Sky Bet Dovecote Novices’ Hurdle |
|
| Grade 2,
Kempton Park
15:00 £30,000 added, 4yo only, 2m, Class 1  |
|
| Saturday 24th February 2018 | |
1 Global Citizen 5/1
2 Scarlet Dragon 13/2
3
Michael's Mount 7/1
10 ran Distances: 9l, 3¾l, ¾l
Time: 3m 47.10s (slow by 5.10s)
Global Citizen romps to victory for Ben Pauling and Daryl Jacob
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Transferred to Ben Pauling from Jonjo O'Neill before winning at Southwell last time out, Global Citizen took a major leap forward in the Grade Two.
Up there throughout, once Daryl Jacob's mount had seen off Mont Des Avaloirs, it was plain sailing.
Smart Flat performer Scarlet Dragon, who was keen in the early stages, chased him home but was beaten nine lengths, with Michael's Mount third.
Pauling said: "We always thought he was decent, he's well related and he'd been impressing at home. That was impressive.
"We haven't got him in the Supreme or the Ballymore. We hadn't had him long when entries needed to be made and I just said to the owners it would be a bit too much to throw him in.
"He'll probably go to Aintree."
Jacob said: "He won a novice for us at Southwell and did it nicely. I told Ben he was a smart horse and then he said he was coming here, so I was delighted as we'd find out how good he was.
"I think after that performance we've got an idea of how good he is. He's very fast, very quick at his hurdles and travels well."
Pauling went on: "That was quite exciting. He jumped brilliantly. I said to Daryl to maybe try not to make it unless we had to, but we knew we wanted to go a decent gallop.
"He just put the pressure on from an early stage (which) is something we wanted to do. With a couple of smart Flat horses in behind, we didn't want them to have an opportunity to get into some sort of rhythm and then be dangerous with their speed.
"The Imperial Cup was the brave man's route. I knew he was well handicapped, but he would be odds-on favourite for that now. We will treat him like a good horse now and we won't be rushing him back to the course.
"I'd say very likely (to run over two miles at Aintree). I don't see why you would want to go any further at this time."
Sky Bet Dovecote Novices' Hurdle
£30,000 added, 4yo plus, 2m, Class 1
10 ran
Going: Good, Good to Soft in Places
| Pos | D | Horse SP | Jockey Weight | Trainer | Age |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Global Citizen (IRE) 5/1 | D A Jacob 11-2 |
B Pauling | 6 | |
| 2nd | 9 | Scarlet Dragon 13/2 | Wayne Hutchinson 11-2 |
A King | 5 |
| 3rd | 3¾ | Michael's Mount 7/1 | T J O'Brien 11-2 |
Ian Williams | 5 |
| 4th | ¾ | Mont Des Avaloirs (FR) 2/1f | Sean Bowen 11-2 |
P F Nicholls | 5 |
| 5th | 4½ | Destrier (FR) 16/1 | Harry Skelton 11-2 |
D Skelton | 5 |
| 6th | 9 | Shoal Bay (IRE) 10/1 | Harry Cobden 11-2 |
C L Tizzard | 5 |
| 7th | 2¾ | Rockpoint 25/1 | Aidan Coleman 11-2 |
C L Tizzard | 5 |
| 8th | 19 | Humphrey Bogart (IRE) 7/1 | Nico de Boinville 11-2 |
N J Henderson | 5 |
| 9th | 3¼ | Carntop 40/1 | G Sheehan 11-2 |
Jamie Snowden | 5 |
| 10th | 5 | Ballywood (FR) 25/1 | Tom Cannon 10-12 |
A King | 4 |
