William Hill Old Roan Limited Handicap Chase
Limited Handicap, Aintree 14:55
£80,000 guaranteed,
4yo plus,
2m 3f 200y, Class 1   
Sunday 26th October 2025

BetPlay

1 Hitman 9/1
2 Master Chewy 3/1
3 Minella Drama 9/1
7 ran Distances: 2l, 1½l, ¾l
Time: 4m 55.77s (slow by 3.77s)

Hitman, the horse named in honour of the late Ricky Hatton, delivered a deeply poignant success at Aintree as he went one better than last year. Twelve months ago he had chased home Donald McCain’s Minella Drama; this time the nine-year-old — part-owned by Hatton’s fellow Mancunian Ged Mason and Sir Alex Ferguson among others — finally found his moment at a venue where he has long been a familiar presence. Twice a runner-up and once a misfiring favourite in the past three renewals, he made no mistake at the fourth attempt.

Under an inspired Freddie Gingell, Hitman travelled like the one they all had to beat from a long way out, the partnership barely putting a foot wrong. And when asked to seal it, he did so with a spectacular leap at the last, powering clear of Master Chewy to give Paul Nicholls a record fourth victory in the race — joining Ditcheat luminaries such as Kauto Star (2006) and Frodon (2018). Connections later confirmed that the winning prize-money will be donated to the newly created Ricky Hatton Foundation.

Nicholls told the PA news agency: “Ged bought him because of his friendship with Ricky ‘The Hitman’ Hatton and to go and win that today, with Ged giving the winnings to the charity, is absolutely brilliant.

“For Ged, Sir Alex, Peter Done and Paul Hogarth, they put so much into racing and support myself so well and the big winners like this really count. Especially with the Hitman link to Ricky, this couldn’t have come together better and I’m just thrilled for everybody with the result.

“I knew he was well and he had been really well at home. He loves that track and the race and Freddie gave him a fantastic ride. Sometimes he’s been a bit of a bridesmaid but he was never getting beat today once I saw him turn into the straight.

“It’s great for Freddie as he needs to get on and ride some of these big winners having been champion conditional and he’s in the next phase of his career now. It’s good to see him do that on a day when Harry (Cobden) was elsewhere.”

He added: “Where he is going to go now, I have no idea. I entered him in the Sefton over the National fences at the next Aintree meeting and that may come a bit soon, but we’ll think of something.”

For Ged Mason, it was an afternoon that struck straight at the heart. A long-time supporter of Hatton — he sponsored him early in his boxing career — Mason had sought out the horse after seeing his name among the winners in France.

Mason said: “He did that for Ricky up there. Ricky was a top, top man who helped so many people. Do speak out if you have got problems – that is what his message would be today.

“I am absolutely delighted that we can help Ricky’s memory and legacy in some way. The family have set up the foundation and all of Hitman’s proceeds are going to it, kicking off today. He has won an amazing amount of prize-money for finishing second but today all guns were out.

“Hopefully Ricky is looking down and smiling at us. As we have said, nobody needs to fight alone – there are a lot of people with problems, and you’ve just got to share your problems with other people. Hopefully the foundation will be a vehicle for people to do that.”

BoyleSports

William Hill Old Roan Limited Handicap Chase
£80,000 guaranteed, 4yo plus, 2m 3f 200y, Class 1
7 ran
 Going: Good

POS. DIST HORSE AGE TRAINER JOCKEY SP
1    Hitman 9 - Paul Nicholls Freddie Gingell 9/1
2 2 Master Chewy 8 - Nigel & Willy Twiston-Davies Sam Twiston-Davies 3/1
3 1½ Minella Drama 10 - Donald McCain Brian Hughes 9/1
4 ¾ Boombawn 1 8 - Dan Skelton Harry Skelton 11/4
5 6½ Imperial Saint 7 - Philip Hobbs & Johnson White Sean Houlihan 2/1F
6 14 Ahoy Senor 10 - Lucinda Russell & Michael Scudamore Derek Fox 17/2
PU Knockanore 8 - Ryan Potter Richard Patrick 40/1

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