A review of the rest of the action from Monday's meeting at Kempton where Edwardstone underlined his Sporting Life Arkle claims.
Arkle hope Edwardstone shines
Edwardstone, the leading British-trained contender for the Sporting Life Arkle, was a ready winner of the Ladbrokes Wayward Lad Novices' Chase.
Alan King's charge raced in last place for much of the contest but turning in was alongside the front-running Solo and eventual runner-up Do Your Job.
He impressed with how quickly he put the race to bed going to the second last, forging clear to score by ten lengths.
"It was brilliant. I had a very willing partner. He's good and always starts off fresh in his races but once he drops his head in a race he's very clever. You have a lot of horse under you through the race," said winning rider Tom Canon.
"He deserves to be second favourite for the Arkle. He's done nothing wrong this year and this was the perfect race for him."
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Trainer Alan King added: “I thought he was very professional and I was happy with him. After Sandown I was going to put him away for Warwick in February but I just thought it was too long, he came out of it well, so we came here. He’ll have a little break and then hopefully go for the Kingmaker.
“He’s as good as we’ve had for a long time, he’d certainly be up there with Voy Por Ustedes and My Way De Solzen. He’s doing the job well.”
Sky Bet cut the winner to 4/1 for the Cheltenham showpiece, Betfair and Paddy Power are 5/1.
"The Sporting Life Arkle is building up to be a cracker. Edwardstone was very professional and jumped nicely. He is now clear second favourite at 4/1 from 7/1 behind Ferny Hollow," commented Sky Bet's Michael Shinners.
Exciting start from Iceo
Iceo made an impressive British debut for Paul Nicholls in the Ladbrokes We Play Together Introductory Juvenile Hurdle at Kempton.
A winner on his only previous start in France during the summer, the son of Coastal Path was the 9/4 favourite to follow up in the hands of Bryony Frost.
Iceo raced keenly from the start, but had plenty left to give from the home turn and ultimately left his rivals trailing in his wake. Rewired was 17 lengths behind in second.
Nicholls said: “I wasn’t sure what to expect, to be honest. Although he’d won, and I was very taken by the way he’d won in France, he had been very keen at home and we’d just been trying to get him to relax and get him fit and jumping well, so what he did out there today was going to show us really.
“We thought we’d get a lead in front for longer than we did. The other horse (Illico Des Places) lit him up early on, but once he got by him he dropped the bridle and obviously won very nicely.”
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Discover Sporting Life Plus BenefitsBetfair cut the winner to 16/1 from 50/1 for the Triumph Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival, but Nicholls warned: “For a horse like him the Triumph Hurdle is not necessarily the be all and end all.
“He’s a National Hunt horse of the future. If the Triumph Hurdle came up testing ground then you might look at it, but there’ll be nice races for him along the way and ultimately he’s a chaser of the future. We’re not too worried about Triumph Hurdles at the moment, unless he proves differently."
Rest of the action...
Emmpressive Lady (3/1 joint-favourite) went one better than last year in the Play Ladbrokes 5-A-Side On Football Mares’ Handicap Hurdle.
Runner-up to the smart Molly Ollys Wishes 12 months ago, Sue Gardner’s charge made no mistake under Sean Houlihan – passing the post with five and a half lengths in hand over Tequila Blaze.
“We came here with a lot of confidence,” said Gardner.
“She’d had one run this season and was jumping out of her skin at home. We knew she’d improved a bit and the horse that beat her last year was a good horse. She only had to find a bit of form to win.
“She’s an out-and-out stayer with a massive heart and loves this ground – she’ll keep going when others can’t. The owner wants to get a bit of black type because he’d like to breed from her.”
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Discover Sporting Life Plus BenefitsFive Star Getaway got back on the winning trail in the Play Ladbrokes 1-2-Free On Football Handicap Chase.
The 12/1 shot was one of three runners for trainer Christian Williams along with the fourth-placed Kitty’s Light and the eighth home Cap Du Nord. Five Star Getaway won three times last season – and while he was well beaten on his return to action at Chepstow in October, Nick Scholfield’s mount raised his game to claim this £50,000 contest by a length from Fortescue.
Williams said: “The other two have had little setbacks and we’ve had a nice run with this horse, so we’d have been in trouble if he didn’t run well today.
“We knew he’d improve from his run at Chepstow. The owners (Carl Hinchy And Mark Scott) are from Liverpool and I suspect they’d love to have a crack at the Grand National. He could come back here in six weeks’ time for what was the Racing Post Chase.”
The last race of the day, the Ladbrokes Committed to Safer Gambling Handicap Hurdle, went to Rowland Ward who secured victory despite the fast-finishing advances of Kannapolis.
The five year old had endured mixed results in his four starts since winning at the Randox Grand National Festival in April this year. However, he returned to the winner’s enclosure with jockey Ciaran Gethings after holding Kannapolis at bay to score by a length at odds of 10-1.
Afterwards winning trainer Stuart Edmunds said: “I think he really loves a flat track as he has been to Cheltenham three times now and it just hasn’t worked for him.
“Ciaran (Gethings) said he loved the ground and that it was not a problem to him. He likes it here as he won the juvenile hurdle on this card in 2019.
“I think we will work back from the conditionals race he won at Aintree last season. We will just have to find a good conditional for it.
“We will just tip away in the meantime but Aintree will be the aim. His mark has been plenty high enough as he was put up 10lbs for that Aintree win. He was still 7lbs above that win today and he will now go up again for that.”
