Ripon review: Justanotherbottle bolts up in Great St Wilfrid
A review of Saturday afternoon's action at Ripon as Justanotherbottle ran away with the William Hill Great St Wilfrid Handicap in first-time blinkers.
Justanotherbottle fills Great St Wilfrid void for Ryan
Justanotherbottle provided Kevin Ryan with a first ever win in the William Hill Great St Wilfrid at Ripon.
Ryan, who made his name earlier in his career by winning big sprint handicaps like the Ayr Gold Cup, had surprisingly failed to land the biggest race of the season at one of his local tracks.
The Hambleton handler reached for the blinkers for the first time for the seven-year-old, and they clearly worked the oracle after a few recent below-par runs.
A winner of the Catterick Dash off 96 last season, his marked had dropped to 92 after six winless runs this season and he barely saw another rival.
Drawn near the rail, his case was helped when habitual front-runner Abate stumbled coming out of the stalls.
That allowed Kevin Stott to grab the rail on the 18/1 chance and from there he could control the race, kicking clear with a furlong to run.
The favourite Lampang, one of six runners for Tim Easterby, and stablemate and last year’s winner Staxton led the pursuit on the far side – but Justanotherbottle was always in command.
Stott was able to ease off close home and he came a length and a half clear of Golden Apollo, another Easterby runner, with Gale Force Maya and Intrinsic Bond taking minor honours.
Ryan was absent at a wedding, but Stott said: “He’s come down the handicap a bit, but he’s a little bit older and wiser now.
“He had blinkers on for the first time and this performance shows he’s still got it.
“I think the blinkers were a big part of it, given he’s older and wiser, so he needed a bit of help. But he’s shown he’s still got plenty of ability.
“He jumped really well and we had a good draw anyway, sometimes the first-time blinkers give them a bit of a shock and they really travel and he’s done that today.”
He went on: “Inside the two-furlong pole I was still on the bridle and these sprinters, when on song, they are very fast and he’s shown plenty of speed today.
“We’ll have a word with connections to see where he goes and I’m delighted for Mr (Steve) Ryan who is a big supporter of mine.”
Ryan, who owns the winner in partnership with Martin Tedham, said: “He was a very cheap horse when I bought him and he’s been an absolute hero.
“I’ve got two runners in the Gimcrack this week, Gis A Sub and Spitting Feathers, so it could be a big few days.
“I retired in March, I went to the sales and spent more than I should have, the last of which was Gis A Sub, hence his name! He could turn out the best, though.”
🏇👏 Decisive - @kevinryanracing's JUSTANOTHERBOTTLE (18/1) powers to victory in the Great St Wilfrid Handicap at @RiponRaces!pic.twitter.com/peToSGvbMQ
— Sporting Life (@SportingLife) August 14, 2021
Rest of Ripon review
Karl Burke is planning a return to Ripon on Bank Holiday Monday for Taj Alriyadh as the juvenile maintained his unbeaten start to a promising career in the William Hill Ripon Hornblower Conditions Stakes.
Most winners of the contest end up in the Listed Champion Two Yrs Old Trophy – and Taj Alriyadh will certainly not look out of place as he took his record to three wins from three races.
After two wins at Catterick, Burke’s Mehmas youngster had clearly failed to catch the imagination of some as all the pre-race talk concerned Robert Cowell’s Dynamic Force, who had been so impressive on his debut at Ayr.
However, the money came late for Clifford Lee’s mount Taj Alriyadh, and he ended up being sent off the 11/10 favourite in a field of four.
As the market suggested the top two dominated, but Dynamic Force never really looked like reeling in the winner, going down by a head.
“He’s got a little deformity on his off-hind hock and I imagine that put a lot of people off at the sales (cost £19,000),” said Burke.
“He doesn’t overdo himself at home, he’s not a flash worker – although he had shown ability going into his first run.
“Cliff said he always felt he was holding the second and he only just does enough, he’s never going to go and win by five or six lengths.
“I’d imagine we’ll come back for the Listed race at the end of the month, that was the idea coming here today, to see how he handled the track, and that looks the obvious step.”
Mark’s Choice (20/1) clearly benefitted from another wind operation since his last start as he ran out a cosy winner of the William Hill Silver Trophy Handicap.
Twice a course winner for Ruth Carr, he was registering his second Ripon win for Sam England under Cam Hardie.
Considering the general consensus is you need to be near a rail on the sprint track, Hardie worked wonders from stall 10 to get a gap up the favoured stands side.
He was also a poignant winner, as England explained.
“It’s really quite nice as one of his owners died this week,” he said.
“He’s a lovely horse and it’s nice he did it for his owners. I’m really proud of him
“His wind was just bothering him so we had it tightened up again and it’s clearly worked.”
It had been a mixed couple of days for Hardie.
“I lost a race I won at Wolverhampton last night and also dislocated my thumb, so it’s nice to win a decent race today. It’s the ups and downs of racing I suppose,” he said.
Knight Rider was picked up for just 22,000 guineas after two unplaced runs for Joe Tuite and sent to Kevin Philapart de Foy in Newmarket.
James Fanshawe’s former assistant wasted no time in stepping the son of Decorated Knight up in trip and the well backed 7/2 chance came a length and a half clear under Paul Mulrennan.
“It was a very good performance, the step up in trip really suited him,” said Mulrennnan.
“He wasn’t doing a great deal in front, but the further he went the better he went so I wouldn’t be surprised if he got further in time.
“He jumped and travelled like a dream, I felt I was always in the right position.”
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