Harry Cobden didn't manage an ITV winner on Saturday but he did at least close the gap in the David Power Jockeys' Cup standings.
Quiet day for leader Skelton
The ITV action came from Sandown and Musselburgh on Saturday afternoon, with eight races all counting towards the David Power Jockeys’ Cup tally, so plenty of points were up for grabs once more.
It proved to be an unusually quiet afternoon for Skelton, a third placed effort aboard Etalon in the Virgin Bet Every Saturday Money Back Handicap Chase (14:00) providing his only points, albeit from just three rides on the card.
Harry Cobden fired in his only winner of the afternoon before the ITV cameras got rolling, as the well-backed Diamonds For Luck took the Sandown opener for Paul Nicholls. Cobden proved to be out of luck in his search to add another winner on the rest of the card, although a consistent string of placed efforts saw him pick up a solid 18 points, bumping him up into second place overall on 212, 26 points behind current leader, Skelton.
On to Nico de Boinville, who was on board Jango Baie in the day’s Grade 1 feature at Sandown, the Scilly Isles Novices’ Chase. His mount was sent off the odds-on favourite, but was outbattled in a thriller by Ben Jones and Handstands, narrowly denied the victory there, and in relation to the David Power Jockeys’ Cup, narrowly denied top marks points-wise. They proved to be his only eight points of the afternoon.
It was however a day of joy for Gavin Sheehan, who produced power-packed rides on board both Gunsight Ridge and O’Connell to secure victories, added to by a fourth-placed effort on Grand Geste in the Novices’ Hurdle, which saw him finish as this week’s round leader.
Those 10 points secured in the televised finale seeing him leap above Cobden on the day’s final standings, as Sheehan secured a valuable 24 points for his tally. He now sits on a total of 140 points, as he made good strides to close the gap on the leading five.
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