Paddy Power Cotswold Chase
Grade 2, Cheltenham 14:25
£120,000 guaranteed,
5yo plus,
3m 1f 56y, Class 1  
Saturday 28th January 2023

Trainers Quotes

1 Ahoy Senor 13/2
2 Sounds Russian 8/1
3 Noble Yeats 11/4
6 ran Distances: 1½l, 1l, 2¾l
Time: 6m 35.96s (slow by 10.96s)

Runner-up in the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase on his only previous visit to Prestbury Park, Ahoy Senor had struggled this season in open company and was winning for the first time since taking the Mildmay Novices’ Chase four starts ago. 

Derek Fox was content to track Bryony Frost and Frodon on the first circuit and although Sounds Russian shot clear during the second lap of the New Course, a juddering error from Ruth Jefferson’s charge four from home gave the pack chance to close the gap and most crucially Ahoy Senor the opportunity to ensure an all-northern finish to this Grade Two contest. 

Neck and neck jumping the last, the duo were soon embroiled in a terrific tussle up the Cheltenham hill with Ahoy Senor prevailing by one and a half lengths and Grand National hero Noble Yeats a further length back in third. 

FormRatings

Trainer Lucinda Russell said: “I’m really pleased. It is just the excitement of having a horse of that quality again. He’s always been good, but he just had to learn about it and today I think he just came of age.

“In my mind, I thought he was going to take a lead and when he came into the paddock, Derek said I’m just going to go forward, and I thought ‘great’, and actually he was right, because it let him get his freshness out of him and then let Frodon give him a lead.

“I’m just pleased with him as I thought his jumping was OK and when he came round that bottom corner and accelerated, I did get a bit excited.

“I really hope he’ll go to the Gold Cup. Whatever happens, he will definitely get an entry.”

The Kinross-based trainer lost her father this week and spoke poignantly in the winner’s enclosure at how much Ahoy Senor had meant to him.

“It is very emotional. My dad was a fantastic person and he was so proud. He’d been ill for a year, I remember being in tears at Newbury when he (Ahoy Senor) won the John Francome Novices’ Chase,” she said.

“It was good in a way, because I spent a year saying thank you to dad and I appreciated him.

“As he went on in his life, racing meant more to him. He’d talk to me about about which races we were going to and he’d phone me before the race and after the races and I will miss that intensely.

“This horse, he was interested in and loved and really wanted him to do well.

“Dad ran down a bit. We had two winners at Kelso and he was a little bit frailer at that point and he only went to hospital for 24 hours.

“To everyone, just say thank you to your dad, just tell them how much they mean to you, because I had the chance to do that. Say thank you. It was dad that set me up, dad that has given me that desire, that determination. He’d be very proud today and I’m really going to miss not phoning him on the way home.”

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Cotswold Chase
£120,000 guaranteed, 5yo plus, 3m 1f 56y, Class 1
6 ran
Going: Soft, Good to Soft in places

POS. DIST HORSE AGE WGT TRAINER JOCKEY SP
1     Ahoy Senor 8 11-7 Lucinda Russell Derek Fox 13/2
2 1½ Sounds Russian 8 11-4 Ruth Jefferson Sean Quinlan 8/1
3 1 Noble Yeats 8 11-10 Emmet Mullins Sean Bowen 11/4
4 2¾ Protektorat 8 11-10 Dan Skelton Harry Skelton 5/4F
5 15 Frodon 11 11-10 Paul Nicholls Bryony Frost 14/1
PU Dusart 8 11-4 Nicky Henderson James Bowen 12/1

COTSWOLD CHASE - Past Results
Year Horse Owner Trainer Weight Jockey SP
1980 Raffi Nelson Mrs P Fry Nicky Henderson 7-11-06 Steve Smith Eccles 5/2
1981 Little Owl R Wilson Peter Easterby 7-11-12 Mr Jim Wilson 8/11f
1982 Lesley Ann B Gaule David Elsworth 8-11-12 Colin Brown 5/2
1983 Combs Ditch Jim Tory David Elsworth 7-11-08 Colin Brown 6/1
1984 Everett Kilian Hennessy Fulke Walwyn 9-11-08 Stuart Shilston 15/8f
1985 West Tip Peter Luff Michael Oliver 8-11-06 Richard Dunwoody 5/2
1986 Misty Spirit Mrs E Dixon Donald Lee 7-11-06 Steve Smith Eccles 9/1
1987 Abandoned
1988* Twin Oaks John Moreton David Murray-Smith 8-11-06 Paul Croucher 6/1
1989 Deep Moment Mrs M Curtis Mercy Rimell 7-11-03 Dermot Browne 12/1
1990 Toby Tobias Elizabeth Hitchins Jenny Pitman 8-11-06 Mark Pitman 5/4
1991 Celtic Shot D E H Horton Charlie Brooks 9-11-12 Peter Scudamore 8/11f
1992 Abandoned
1993 Sibton Abbey Geoff Hubbard Ferdy Murphy 8-11-12 Steve Smith Eccles 16/1
1994 Dubacilla Veronica Cole Henry Cole 8-10-12 Dean Gallagher 8/1
1995 Master Oats Paul Matthews Kim Bailey 9-11-06 Norman Williamson 6/4f
1996 Abandoned
1997 One Man John Hales Gordon Richards 9-11-12 Richard Dunwoody 2/5f
1998 See More Business John Keighley/Paul Barber Paul Nicholls 8-11-06 Timmy Murphy 9/4f
1999 Cyfor Malta David Johnson Martin Pipe 6-11-06 A P McCoy 10/11f
2000 Looks Like Trouble Tim Collins Noel Chance 8-11-06 Norman Williamson 100/30
2001 See More Business Paul Barber/Robert Ogden Paul Nicholls 11-11-10 Mick Fitzgerald 9/4
2002 Rince Ri Frank Moriarty Ted Walsh IRE 9-11-10 Ruby Walsh 9/2
2003 Behrajan The Behrajan Partnership Henry Daly 8-11-06 Richard Johnson 9/2
2004 Jair Du Cochet Miriam Montauban Guillaume Macaire FR 7-11-10 Jacques Ricou 11/4
2005 Grey Abbey The Roper Family/Norman Furness Howard Johnson 11-11-10 Graham Lee 100/30
2006** See You Sometime J Meaden Seamus Mullins 11-11-05 Andrew Thornton 18/1
2007 Exotic Dancer Sir Robert Ogden Jonjo O’Neill 7-11-06 A P McCoy 6/1
2008 Knowhere Raymond Mould Nigel Twiston-Davies 10-11-04 Paddy Brennan 16/1
2009 Joe Lively Richard Dimond Colin Tizzard 10-11-06 Joe Tizzard 11/1
2010 Taranis Angela Yeoman Paul Nicholls 9-11-00 Nick Scholfield 16/1
2011 Neptune Collonges John Hales Paul Nicholls 10-11-00 A P McCoy 11/2
2012 Midnight Chase Lady Clarke Neil Mulholland 10-11-06 Dougie Costello 11/2
2013 Cape Tribulation David Abell Malcolm Jefferson 9-11-06 Denis O’Regan 7/1
2014 The Giant Bolster Simon Hunt & Gary Lambton David Bridgwater 9-11-00 Tom Scudamore 6/1
2015 Many Clouds Trevor Hemmings Oliver Sherwood 8-11-10 Leighton Aspell 4/1
2016 Smad Place Trish Andrews Alan King 9-11-06 Richard Johnson 9/2
2017 Many Clouds Trevor Hemmings Oliver Sherwood 10-11-10 Leighton Aspell 8/1
2018 Definitly Red Phil & Julie Martin Brian Ellison 9-11-06 Danny Cook 7/1
2019 Frodon Paul Vogt Paul Nicholls 7-11-06 Bryony Frost 9/4
2020 Santini Mr & Mrs R Kelvin-Hughes Nicky Henderson 8-11-04 Nico de Boinville 13/8
2021 Native River 11 11-06 Brocade Racing Colin Tizzard Richard Johnson 13/2
2022 Chantry House 8 11-6 John P McManus Nicky Henderson Nico de Boinville 5/6F

* Cavvies Clown was first past the post in 1988, but subsequently failed a dope test ** Staged at Wincanton