Betway Bowl Chase
Grade 1, Aintree 14:50
£150,000 added,
5yo plus,
3m 210y, Class 1   
Thursday 6th April 2017

Mathematician Betting

1 Tea For Two 10/1
2 Cue Card 2/1F
3 Smad Place 10/1
7 ran Distances: nk, 15l, 8l
Time: 6m 24.00s (slow by 17.00s)

Lizzie Kelly and Tea For Two out battle Cue Card up the Aintree straight and win the Bowl

Tea For Two
© Racehorse Photos
Tea For Two

Lizzie Kelly made history in December 2015 when becoming the first female rider to win a Grade One in Britain as Tea For Two, trained by her father Nick Williams and part-owned by her mother Jane, landed the Kauto Star Novices' Chase at Kempton.

But this success will have arguably meant more, coming as it did against one of the best stayers of recent years in Cue Card and on the first day of the Grand National meeting.

Kelly, who had been left hugely disappointed when unseated from Tea For Two at the second fence in the Cheltenham Gold Cup, said: "That was fantastic. We were quietly confident going into the Gold Cup when our dreams were taken away from us.

"He's a horse that has produced time and time again for me and my family, everyone else puts in more work than I do but I get the opportunity to ride him. He was a dream ride."

Content to bide her time in the early stages of the race, which were dominated by Bristol De Mai and Silviniaco Conti, Kelly gradually moved her mount into a challenging position as the contest developed.

But just like 12 months ago, it looked as if Colin Tizzard's 2-1 favourite Cue Card would claim the spoils having fallen in the Gold Cup on his previous start, after opening up a lead over the fourth-last with a bold leap.

That advantage was soon closed down by the 10-1 winner, with little to separate the pair over the penultimate fence.

It was on the run down the last that the younger legs of Tea For Two asserted and after meeting it on a good stride, Kelly kept her willing partner up to the task to defeat the rallying Cue Card by a fast-diminishing neck.

Kelly added: "This means more than winning the Grade One at Kempton on him, I didn't really appreciate that at the time, but this is special.

"We didn't let on how confident we were coming here today, we were always more confident about him handling this better than Cheltenham because he's done all his winning on flat tracks.

"It's fantastic for the yard, I missed our winner at Cheltenham this year but I've had my reward today.

"My mum deals with him on a day-to-day basis. It was hard what happened in the Gold Cup after all the build-up and he has been different at home.

"She said to me she didn't know what I'd find today, he'd had a long season, but she's done a lot of hard work with him.

"Next year's Gold Cup dream is still alive."

QuinnBet

Betway Bowl Chase
£150,000 added, 5yo plus, 3m 210y, Class 1
7 ran
Going: Good (Good to Soft in places)

Pos Dist Horse SP Jockey Weight Trainer Age
1st Tea For Two 10/1 Lizzie Kelly
11-7
Nick Williams 8
3rd 15 Smad Place (FR) 10/1 Wayne Hutchinson
11-7
A King 10
4th 8 Aso (FR) 14/1 Charlie Deutsch
11-7
Miss V Williams 7
5th Bristol De Mai (FR) 9/2 D A Jacob
11-7
N A Twiston-Davies 6
6th 8 Silviniaco Conti (FR) 7/1 N D Fehily
11-7
P F Nicholls 11
PU Empire Of Dirt (IRE) 10/3 B J Cooper
11-7
G Elliott 10

Free Racing Tips

TIZZARD DELIGHTED WITH HIS KING, CUE CARD
 
The 2/1 favourite Cue Card finished second to Tea For Two in the Betway Bowl - a race he won in 2016.
 
The popular 11-year-old, who fell three out in the Timico Cheltenham Gold Cup for the second successive year on his last outing, was only beaten a neck under Paddy Brennan after rallying.
 
His trainer Colin Tizzard said: "It was a fantastic run. He loved being ridden that positively. We could just see Tea For Two travelling quite well behind us all the time; they were very close in the King George VI Chase [at Kempton on Boxing Day] and they were very close again today. It was a lovely run.
 
"I know people say he's 11, but he's as good as he's ever been. He loves racing. His season is done, he'll go out in the field now on this nice spring grass. But after about a month we will start riding again because we don't want him getting old. He doesn't like the flies so we will have him in by day and ride him and turn him out at night. We'll treat him like a king, because that's what he is!"
 
Smad Place, who was a distant eighth in the Timico Cheltenham Gold Cup last time out, came back from that with a battling third today.
 
Alan King, trainer of the grey 10-year-old, said: "I am proud of him.
 
"He has come back in one piece and that is it for the season for him now. We will hopefully come back then for one more year."
 
Jockey Wayne Hutchinson added: "He has run a marvellous race. I have said in the past he doesn't know how to run a bad race.
 
 "Today he just met one down the back wrong and that put him on the back foot - you are chasing the race then. He has galloped all the way to the line and I am very proud of him."

FormRatings

Betfred Bowl - Previous Winners

2016 Cue Card,
2015 Silviniaco Conti,
2014 Silviniaco Conti,
2013 First Lieutenant
, Gigginstown House Stud, Mouse Morris IRE 08-11-07 Bryan Cooper 7/2
2012 Follow The Plan, Redgap Partnership, Oliver McKlernan IRE 09-11-07 Tom Doyle 50/1
2011 Nacarat, Simon W Clarke, Tom George 10-11-07 Paddy Brennan 7/2

Free Racing Tips