San Benedeto won a dramatic renewal of the Doom Bar Maghull Novices' Chase at Aintree for Paul Nicholls. Check out our race report, reaction from connections and free video replay.
3.00 Aintree result
1st San Benedeto 4/1
2nd Forest Bihan 6/1
Report
San Benedeto won an extraordinary renewal of the Doom Bar Maghull Novices' Chase to give Paul Nicholls his first winner at Aintree this week.
Charbel had been very easy to back as he looked to atone for his fall at Cheltenham in the Arkle and the money came for Politologue who jumped off alongside before being reined back by Sam Twiston-Davies but he always had Charbel in his sights.
Charbel made a bad mistake at the seventh, an open ditch, and dropped back to third after another mistake at the next, the last on the far side.
That left Politologue in the lead although he was soon joined by Forest Bihan but the Nicholls-trained grey was clear in the straight.
Charbel tried to get back into the race but failed while Forest Bihan laid it down to Politologue again with the eventual winner tracking the pair in third.
Politologue jumped the last about half a length up and got away from the fence the better but stumbled and lost his feet several strides later - with Twiston-Davies later reporting the six-year-old had clipped his own heels - leaving the race at Forest Bihan's mercy.
It wasn't to be for Brian Ellison's runner though as Nick Scholfield conjured a renewed challenge out of the supposed Nicholls second string to get up on the line.
It was a fourth successive victory and a sixth over fences for the six-year-old who has progressed markedly in the second half of the season.
Reaction
Nick Scholfield: "Credit to the horse, he really put his head down. He deserves it, he's been on the go for a long time. He only won last Sunday so he's not had long to recover so fair play to the horse."
Paul Nicholls: "It's obviously nice to win, it's nice to have a first reserve! He's an amazing horse, he won on Sunday and sometimes fortune favours the brave. How unlucky was Politologue though? He winged the last to go and win his race and I don't know, but it looked like he stumbled.
"John (Hales) is disappointed but at least it's confirmed what Sam and I think, that he is probably a two-miler. He gallops and jumps and that will probably be his job next year. It's nice to have a Grade One winner and a winner here. It's good of Paul (Vogt, owner) to let me run him too as he only ran on Sunday and I had to persuade him that he was really well and I thought he would run OK.
"He [San Benedeto] takes no training this horse, and he loves this ground. He's in the form of his life. I was going to take him to Sandown for the Celebration Chase and we still might if he's still in the same sort of form. He's had an amazing season, he started off at Sedgefield in May."
Kim Bailey, trainer of Charbel, said: "He made a mistake on the far side at a crucial stage and that changed everything. There is no margin for error and you have to jump all the fences round here spot on. He's got an engagement at Punchestown, but we will have to see."
Brian Ellison: "We could have done without the faller as Brian hadn't asked him for everything as he didn't want to hit the front too early. He's blatantly pulled up in front and it's hard to take being chinned in a Grade One. He's a nice horse to look forward to next year and will pick up some prize-money in the big races."
