Pic D’Orhy stamped his class on the Coral Silviniaco Conti Chase at Kempton to give Paul Nicholls a third win in the Grade Two in four years and set up a potential clash with Shishkin next time out.
The Paul Nicholls-trained eight year old continued to look like the real deal over fences after securing the fourth Grade Two success of his career with another fine display of jumping under Harry Cobden in the extended two and a half mile event.
Arriving on the back of wins at Newton Abbot and at the same level in the Fitzdares Peterborough Chase at Huntingdon last time out, the gelded son of Turgeon was sent off the 6-4 Favourite to make it a hat-trick of victories for the campaign.
Settled into a beautiful rhythm out in front Pic D’Orhy had the majority of his rivals toiling turning for home the final time with Cobden still yet to ask any serious questions of his mount.
Meeting the line of three fences in the home straight in near foot perfect fashion Pic D’Orhy strolled to glory by 16 lengths to set up a potential clash with Shishkin in the Grade One Betfair Ascot Chase on February 18th.
Owner Johnny De La Hey said: “He has definitely grown up and he is a bigger stronger horse. We were pretty worried as I had a few texts with Paul this morning about the ground and there was 10 millimetres last night and we thought that was going to be too soft.
“He has put it all together now and that opens up loads of options for us. We love that race (the Betfair Ascot Chase, which the owner won with Cyrname in 2019) and that would be the obvious choice to go to and then Aintree after that.
“It is probably the right way of saying it that he could nick one (a Grade One). He is rated 158 and he will probably go up a few pounds so he is not a million miles away from being a proper Grade One horse.
“Paul has got some good horses to benchmark him against and I’d say he is just below a Bravemansgame but we are still pretty happy. That is his fourth Grade Two and if we can keep picking those up why not.
“Harry said he is a difficult horse to ride but he looks an easier horse to ride now as his jumping has improved immeasurably. He was a second season novice last season as his jumping was nowhere near good enough but I thought he looked quite quick today
“Other than the mistake four out he did the job. I think Harry is important full stop. If Shishkin is near his best he wouldn’t be beatable but it wouldn’t put me off having a go.
“To be honest I would be excited if that would be the opportunity.”
Unlimited Replays
of all UK and Irish races with our Race Replays
Discover Sporting Life Plus Benefits
Equally delighted with the effort was the winning rider who admitted that Pic D’Orhy, who claimed Grade Two honours over course and distance last year in the Pendil Novices’ Chase, was turning in to ‘quite a smart horse’.
Cobden said: “He was very good there. I must admit I had a bit of a ground worry when I walked it this morning. He is maturing and getting better and is probably turning into quite a smart horse. He just missed the fourth last but apart from that he was foot perfect the whole way around.
“I suppose he would have to go to Ascot next and have a crack at that. I’m not sure the Ryanair would be his gig. He is a very good Grade Two horse that is five or six pounds short of being a Grade One horse but when he jumps around here and tracks like this I can get him into a nice rhythm in front.
“Those good races at Cheltenham and Aintree you are going half a stride quicker than you want to and it is hard to dominate those races but he is definitely improving and it wouldn’t surprise me if he ended up in one of those races later on in the season.
“To be fair you can’t take anything away from him as anything you have put in front of him this season he has beaten. He was wrong at the weights today with Paint The Dream but I think he didn’t act on the ground and is better left handed.
“He is a great horse for the owner and he picks up loads of prizemoney wherever you go with him.”
More from Sporting Life
- Racecards
- Fast results
- Full results and free video replays
- Horse racing news
- Horse racing tips
- Horse racing features
- Download our free iOS and Android app
- Football and other sports tips
- Podcasts and video content
Safer gambling
We are committed in our support of safer gambling. Recommended bets are advised to over-18s and we strongly encourage readers to wager only what they can afford to lose.
If you are concerned about your gambling, please call the National Gambling Helpline / GamCare on 0808 8020 133.
Further support and information can be found at begambleaware.org and gamblingtherapy.org.
