Dahlbury Handicap Chase |
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| Handicap, Cheltenham 14:25 £70,000 guaranteed, 4yo plus, 3m 2f, Grade 3  |
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1 Eva's Oskar
8/1
2 Spiritofthegames
11/2
3 Undersupervision
7/2
8 ran NR: Nassalam Distances: ½l, 5l, 1½l
Time: 6m 49.52s (slow by 10.52s)
Eva’s Oskar is in the Welsh National reckoning after winning the @DahlBury Handicap Chase at a frosty @CheltenhamRaces for @Alan_Johns1 and @TVaughanRacing pic.twitter.com/atXAbbTZrt https://t.co/4QSefZNHHS via @RacingBetter
— RacingBetter (@RacingBetter) December 14, 2022
Eva’s Oskar, ridden by Alan Johns, jumped for fun in the three-and-a-quarter-mile event and just had enough to spare to thwart Spiritofthegames by half a length.
Cut to 16-1 from 33s by QuinnBet for the Coral Welsh National at Chepstow on December 27, it seems a natural stopping point for the Welsh handler.
Vaughan said: “He has been super consistent this year. The only concern was the ground. Not that he can’t handle good ground, it is just (softer) slows everyone else down.
“He stuck on doggedly, so I’m delighted. It is nice for the horse, nice for Alan, nice for me, nice for the owners – who are lovely people – and it is great for everyone.
“He is in the Welsh National and it is definitely a thought. Why not? If it came up soft, we would definitely look at it. The view was if he didn’t come here and win, he wasn’t going to win a Welsh National. That is the rationale we had.”
However, Newcastle and Aintree are also in the thoughts. He added: “Obviously he need to take another step forward, but a longer trip and softer ground would put more things in our favour.
“We’ll see, but in my head the Eider would be the race for him. It is just a little bit of a lower grade than the Welsh National, and possibly a Grand National would be a lovely dream.”
Bishops Cleeve Handicap Chase (Grade 3)
£70,000 guaranteed, 4yo plus, 3m 2f, Class 1
8 ran
Going: Good
1 Eva's Oskar 8 11-12 Tim Vaughan Alan Johns 8/1
2 ½ Spiritofthegames 10 11-6 Dan Skelton Harry Skelton 11/2
3 5 Undersupervision 6 11-8 Nigel Twiston-Davies Sam Twiston-Davies 7/2
4 1½ Captain Cattistock 9 11-4 Fergal O'Brien Liam Harrison 11/4F
5 ¾ Commodore 10 12-0 Venetia Williams Charlie Deutsch 11/2
6 15 Broken Quest 10 11-11 David Dennis Jonathan Burke 16/1
7 18 Switch Hitter 7 11-6 Paul Nicholls Harry Cobden 10/1
PU Dominateur 9 10-9 Ben Pauling Nico de Boinville 11/1
NR 2 Nassalam 5 12-0 Gary Moore NON RUNNER
