Gunsight Ridge fended off the staying-on Dr T J Eckleburg and the rallying Etalon to land the Virgin Bet Every Saturday Money Back Handicap Chase at Sandown.
Murphy at the double
The 10-year-old Gunsight Ridge fell on his seasonal reappearance at Cheltenham and was pulled up at Kelso when last seen, but got his campaign back on track with a battling half-length success under Gavin Sheehan at 11/1.
It appeared as if favourite Etalon had a made a race-winning move before the turn for home but he came back to the chasers before the last and, though rallying late on, had to settle for third.
Runner-up Dr T J Eckleburg (8/1) was held up off the strong pace and finished best of all, but it was too late in the day to prevent a second winner on the afternoon for trainer Olly Murphy following the first race success of Diamonds For Luck.
Both horses were owned (or part-owned) by Diana Whateley.
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Two winners also for cool customer Sheehan
Sheehan added another winner of his own later in the card as O'Connell came from the back of the field to pick up long-time leader Dreaming Blue (14/1) in the attritional Virgin Bet Masters Handicap Chase.
Sent off the well-backed 7/4 favourite, the Joel Parkinson and Sue Smith-trained nine-year-old was given a very patient ride and still had plenty of ground to make up on the leaders after the famous Railway Fences, but made stealthy ground turning for home and picked up well on the run in after the last to win going away. In d'Or (7/2) was third.
Sheehan was impressed with his mount and said: “He raced very efficiently and relaxed behind the bridle and jumps well.
“I thought we went a strong gallop but we always had a target coming up that hill and that’s what helped us out at the finish. When you have a target, it is great, but when you are in front, it is a very lonely spot and they don’t do an awful lot in front. He’s done well.
“I’ve won on this lad before, it’s very extreme out there and I’ve been conservative, so I should have finished better if he was good enough – and he proved he was. He’s a good staying chaser and you could easily see him running in the Eider or something next year, you never know.”
Assistant trainer Sarah Drake added: “He’s a really nice horse who’s now won three in a row. The horses are running really well and we’re having a really good time of it.
“He’s proven his stamina there and it’s not nice ground out there today. He finished really strongly at Market Rasen and four furlongs out he looked like he would win the race. He was brilliant at Market Rasen and brilliant again today.”
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Discover Sporting Life Plus BenefitsLatest David Power Jockeys' Cup standings
The Sandown double in front of the ITV cameras for Sheehan meant that he picked up 24 points in his bid to become the inaugural David Power Jockeys’ Cup champion.
Reigning Champion Jockey Harry Cobden secured 18 points thanks to placed efforts on Just Lucky Sivola and Henri The Second. That moved him into second place ahead of Sam Twiston-Davies who was out of luck on his only ITV ride of the day.
David Noonan also achieved the same tally of points on Saturday, primarily due to the Scottish County Hurdle success of Welsh Charger, though he has plenty of ground to make up on the current leader Harry Skelton.
Skelton was able to add six points to his total, and he now tops the standings on 238 points.
Ben Jones secured 10 points thanks to the success of Handstands in a thrilling renewal of the Grade 1 Scilly Isles Novices’ Chase, though made up no ground on Charlie Deutsch – who is one place above him – due to Deutsch’s earlier win on Sole Solution.
Click here to view the latest David Power Jockeys' Cup leaderboard.
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