Eleven times champion trainer Paul Nicholls was the star of the show at our two-day Unibet Jump Season Opener. He had eight winners out of the 16 races run. Jockey Harry Cobden rode seven of the stable’s winners with Bryony Frost aboard the other one.
One of his many impressive successes came when McFabulous won the £30,000 Grade 2 Unibet Persian War Novices’ Hurdle on Friday very easily under Harry Cobden. The trainer said the horse’s long term target is the Stayers’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival.
The Professor Caroline Tisdall Supports Heroic Jumpers Veterans’ Chase on Friday produced a thrilling finish with Present Man defeating Crosspark by a nose with Dancing Shadow a further nose behind in third. This was one of the eight Paul Nicholls trained winners.
The big race on Saturday, the £40,000 Wasdell Group Silver Trophy Handicap Hurdle, went to the Tom Lacey trained Tea Clipper ridden by Jonathan Burke.
There was a memorable Welsh win in the John Ayres Memorial Handicap Chase when Pink Eyed Pedro took the prize for trainer David Brace and his grandson jockey Connor. Pink Eyed Pedro won the prestigious hunter chase, the Dunraven Bowl at Chepstow in 2019, sponsored by the Brace family.
A number of the winners look destined for much better things including Thyme White, Soaring Glory, Hell Red, Grand Sancy, Tea Clipper and Knappers Hill.
