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Hall Masters Rivals with Facile Kelso Victory
07/03/12

Nicky Henderson's Master Of The Hall was given a beautiful ride by champion jockey AP McCoy to take the Totepool.com Premier Chase at Kelso in effortless fashion and place himself bang in the reckoning for the Grade 3 JLT Speciality Handicap Chase at the Cheltenham Festival just ten days later, writes Elliot Slater.

Master Of The Hall
© Racehorse Photos

Master Of The Hall

With most of the attention centring on the return to action of last season's John Smith's Grand National winner Ballabriggs, Master Of The Hall (6/4f) was given a quiet ride throughout the two-and-three-quarter by the legendary champion jockey as According To Pete and Abbeybraney took the field along. Going to the third last Ballabriggs moved up under Jason Maguire to look a big danger but McCoy still hadn't moved a muscle in fourth place as the quartet raced down to the last with all to play for. Those following the best 2012 Cheltenham Festival betting online will have been paying close attention.

Ballabriggs attempted to kick on as According To Pete rallied, but McCoy was still hard on the steel on the favourite to whom he eventually gave an inch of rein with 150 yards on the flat left to run. The response was immediate as last season's Grade 2 Reynoldstown Chase winner coasted clear to score by four-lengths from According To Pete, with Ballabriggs blowing up on the flat and coming home fourth having run a highly satisfactory big race trial.

For his part, Master Of The Hall had no more than a good exercise gallop and connections must now be seriously thinking of letting him take his chance at Cheltenham in the three-miler for which bookmakers rate him as short as 10/1 in places (from 25's). A winner of a listed race at Aintree in December, Henderson's eight-year-old blotted his copybook when refusing at the last at Sandown the following month when well beaten, but has certainly bounced back looking as though there are good prizes still to be won with him this season.


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