Willoughby Court proves too good for Yanworth

The Ben Pauling-trained Willoughby Court rounded off last season by claiming Cheltenham Festival glory in the Neptune Investment Management Novices' Hurdle, but did not entirely convince with his jumping when making a successful fencing debut at Huntingdon last month.

Yanworth, a dual Grade One-winning hurdler for Alan King, also had questions to answer after falling on his second chase start at Exeter, but he was the marginal favourite at odds of 5-6 to claim a Grade Two prize registered as the Berkshire Novices' Chase.

Western Miller led the five-strong field early on, before Nico de Boinville sent 15-8 chance Willoughby Court to the front racing down the back straight.

While Willoughby Court was more assured at his fences on this occasion, Yanworth was again far from fluent and looked beaten rounding the home turn.

To his credit, the JP McManus-owned chestnut responded to Barry Geraghty's urgings to close the gap, but Willoughby Court never looked in serious danger of being caught and passed the post three lengths to the good.

Willoughby Court was adding his name to an illustrious roll of honour in the Grade Two contest that includes three subsequent Cheltenham Gold Cup heroes in Denman (2006), Bobs Worth (2011) and Coneygree (2014).

Sky Bet were impressed and cut the winner to 8/1 from 14s for the JLT Chase at Cheltenham, spokesman Michael Shinners saying: "That was an excellent performance. He produced a sound round of jumping and while he looks like he'll get further, the intermediate trip of the JLT looks ideal for him."

De Boinville said: "He jumped as straight as anything today. He was just novicey at Huntingdon. Draw a line through that. He's been schooling well back at home and I didn't come here thinking there would be any problems. That's just public perception.

"He's very good and showed me a few gears there as well. I was umming and ahhing about whether he was a three-miler, but I think you'd have to stick at two and a half. He'll come on for the run again, I'd say. It's a great start."

Pauling added: "That was really good. He was clever when he needed to be and was brave at a couple of fences when he needed to be as well. He wasn't worried like he was at Huntingdon and that was so good to see. I'm thrilled. This is still as short as he wants on a flat track. It was a great ride from Nico. He is exceptional.

"We'll probably stay at two and a half miles and look maybe towards the Dipper (Novices' Chase) at Cheltenham (January 1). It won't hurt him to go there. It's fabulous for everyone involved. It's so nice to have such a good horse."

Confirming the JLT Novices' Chase at Cheltenham in March as the ultimate target for the season, Pauling added: "I think you can forget Huntingdon and look at what he is. He is a horse that needs somebody he knows. He is not everyone's ride and we have to make a plan and stick with it, jockeys and stable staff.

"He is a bit of a thinker and worries about life, but he is a horse that is completely different to the one I trained two and a half years ago. He was a nightmare then. He always had ability but channelling it was hard work."

King was not too disappointed by Yanworth's defeat and revealed he had suffered a minor injury during the race.

He said: "That was only his third run over fences. Exeter was not ideal, but he has schooled great since and learnt a lot again today. These fences are bigger than anywhere else in the country. If you remember, he needed a couple of good, hard runs over hurdles to man him up. He came on bundles last year when he beat Lil Rockerfeller (Coral Hurdle at Ascot).

"We will keep putting him over a few fences before he runs again and we'll look at something around Christmas/New Year. He got a few nasty overreaches. Hopefully they won't need stitching. Barry was very positive. I must admit when he got a run at the last and winged it I thought he might get it, but you forget how good the winner is."

Geraghty was similarly upbeat, adding: "Mistakes cost him. He ran a good race and I still thought I had a chance jumping the last, but he just missed a couple. He jumped well enough on the whole, apart from two mistakes, so he'll have learnt plenty."

Asked whether he felt Yanworth should remain over fences, the jockey said: "There's no doubt. It was a good run. You weren't beaten by a mug. It was a good effort."

Related horse racing links

• Today's racecards
• Today's fast results
• Today's results
• More free horse racing tips
• Goings and non-runners