15:35 Ascot

Saturday 4 November 2017

All12:4013:1513:5014:2515:0015:3516:05

Sodexo Gold Cup Handicap Chase (Grade 3)

Off time: 15:41 | Winning time: 6m 4.70s

1^st

Go Conquer

811-0

7/1

T: J & A O'NeillJ: Aidan Coleman

Led to 7th, tracked leader, led again 9th, made rest, drew clear before 2 out, ridden between last 2, unchallenged after, kept on, eased towards finish op 8/1

2^nd

4 ½

Rock Gone

910-8

20/1

T: Dr R D P NewlandJ: Brendan Powell

Tracked leaders, went 2nd after 14th, driven and outpaced before 2 out, ridden between last 2, kept on, no chance with winner tchd 16/1

3^rd

Braqueur D'Or

610-11

7/1

T: P F NichollsJ: Sam Twiston-Davies

Mid-division, hit 3 out, soon outpaced, chased leaders under pressure next, ridden between last 2, went 3rd last, kept on, not trouble front pair op 15/2 tchd 13/2

4^th

Dark Flame

810-5

10/1

T: R RoweJ: A Glassonbury

Mid-division, driven to chase leaders after 4 out, ridden and kept on same pace under pressure from 2 out, went 4th flat, not trouble leaders op 8/1 tchd 11/1

5^th

Antony

710-4

4/1f

T: G & J MooreJ: J E Moore

In touch, driven to chase leaders after 3 out, went 3rd next, never on terms, lost place last, gradually weakened flat op 7/1

6^th

Thomas Brown

810-10

9/1

T: H FryJ: N P Madden

Mid-division on outside, outpaced 4 out, ridden before 2 out, kept on under pressure from last, never near leaders op 8/1 tchd 10/1

7^th

Fourth Act

810-1

10/1

T: C L TizzardJ: S Bowen

Held up behind, outpaced 3 out, never near leaders tchd 9/1

8^th

Emerging Force

710-11

11/2

T: H WhittingtonJ: Harry Bannister

Tracked winner, led 7th to 9th, in touch, lost place after 14th, driven after 3 out, weakened from last op 7/1

9^th

Ultragold

910-13

25/1

T: C L TizzardJ: T J O'Brien

In touch, outpaced 3 out, soon ridden, weakened from next op 20/1

10^th

3 ½

Ballykan

710-9

16/1

T: N & W Twiston-DaviesJ: Jamie Bargary (3)

Tracked leaders, hit and lost place 14th, outpaced 5 out, behind from 3 out

11^th

Junction Fourteen

810-13

16/1

T: Miss E C LavelleJ: L P Aspell

In touch on outside, driven before 3 out, soon lost place, weakened before next, tailed off op 14/1

12^th

Regal Encore

911-8

33/1

T: A J HoneyballJ: R P McLernon

Held up, always behind, weakened 3 out, tailed off tchd 25/1

13^th

Meldrum Lad

810-0

50/1

T: S DurackJ: C O'Farrell

Held up, always towards rear, weakened 3 out, tailed off op 33/1

Also Ran

Art Mauresque

711-8

20/1

T: P F NichollsJ: Bryony Frost (5)

Held up in last pair, fell 1st op 25/1 tchd 33/1

The Young Master

811-3

16/1

T: N P MulhollandJ: Mr James King (5)

Mid-division, blundered and unseated rider 5th op 20/1 tchd 25/1

Ballycross

610-5

11/1

T: N & W Twiston-DaviesJ: Alain Cawley

Always behind, struggling 12th, soon lost touch, pulled up before 15th op 14/1

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Non-Runners

Carole's Destrier³¹²

Weight: 11-12| Age: 9

T: N P Mulholland J: N D Fehily

Bigbadjohn²¹

Weight: 11-2| Age: 8

T: Miss R Curtis J: Jonathan Moore

Betting Breakdown

Tote Win:£7.20Pl:£2.00, £4.40, £2.00, £3.30EX:£195.30Trifecta:£957.20Tricast:£1,053.53SF:£149.33Swingers:£24.40, £5.00, £21.70

Forecasts

Antony (4/1), Emerging Force (11/2), Go Conquer (7/1), Braqueur D'Or (7/1), Thomas Brown (9/1), Dark Flame (10/1), Fourth Act (10/1), Ballycross (11/1), Carole's Destrier (14/1), Ballykan (16/1), Junction Fourteen (16/1), Bigbadjohn (16/1), The Young Master (16/1), Rock Gone (20/1), Art Mauresque (20/1), Ultragold (25/1), Regal Encore (33/1), Meldrum Lad (50/1)

An eagerly anticipated early season highlight, and the feature race on today's card at Ascot. Antony defends his crown after accounting for both Junction Fourteen (4½L runner up) and Fourth Act (8L fourth) in 2016, and he follows the same route into the race via Fontwell. However, unlike in 2016, he wasn't the winner at Fontwell, and this time around he was beaten 14L by the bold front running selection GO CONQUER. The Jonjo O'Neill trained winner is 7lb higher than for that success, but the overall form looks strong, with 2L runner up As De Mee taking a valuable contest for Paul Nicholls up at Kelso last weekend. Go Conquer stays this longer trip without any real problems, and unless it comes up very soft (most unlikely) this fast improving eight-year-old is fancied to break the hearts of his seventeen other rivals off the front end.

Go Conquer
Regal Encore
Thomas Brown

Previous Winners

2016

Antony

Weight: 10-1 |Age: 6

J: J E Moore | T: G & J Moore

11/1

Prize Money

1st: £56,950.002nd: £21,370.003rd: £10,700.004th: £5,330.005th: £2,680.006th: £1,340.00