Sky Bet Chase |
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| Listed Handicap Doncaster 15:15 £100,000 added, 5yo plus, 2m 7f 214yds, Class 1  |
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| Saturday 25th January 2020 | |
1 OK Corral 9/1
2
Fingerontheswitch 10/1
3
Chidswell 16/1
14 ran Distances: ½l, 14l, 2½l
Time: 6m 2.10s (slow by 8.10s)
No whip. No problem for master jockey @DerekOConnor82 as he lifts Ok Corral to victory in the Sky Bet Handicap Chase @DoncasterRaces. Well done to @Jack_Fin and @katielou_lou92 for getting him A1! pic.twitter.com/9M5pULpeS1
— Nicky Henderson (@sevenbarrows) January 25, 2020
Having looked a smart novice in the early part of last season, OK Corral went to the Cheltenham Festival with high hopes but suffered a troubled passage there and had cut little ice in two runs this season to date.
Nicky Henderson called Derek O’Connor, one of Ireland’s leading amateurs, over to ride him again as he had partnered JP McManus’ charge to victory at Warwick last season and the move paid off.
However, O’Connor lost his whip in the closing stages and fellow amateur Millie Wonnacott, on Fingerontheswitch, had given her mount the perfect ride to find herself upsides.
The two became involved in a terrific tussle, with O’Connor using his hand to encourage Ok Corral, and his mount responded to win by half a length at 9-1.
The pair pulled 14 lengths clear of the third, Chidswell, with Ravenhill Road fourth.
O’Connor said: “The whip can be over-rated at times. When you have a willing partner it’s half the battle and he strode out all the way to the line.
“He loves a fast, speedy track like Warwick and Doncaster and he could be an Aintree horse possibly.
“I’ve ridden here just the once before in a bumper, but I work for Goffs UK and I spend a lot of time on the track. I’ve jogged round more times than a lot of horses have raced here.
“I was lucky enough to ride this horse in Warwick. I got the call up again. There are no future plans, it’s just that I got on so well with him last year, thankfully I got the ride back on him today.
“It’s a lot to do with Aidan (Coleman) and Barry (Geraghty) as well.
“To be considered in the line-up for a JP McManus horse and a Nicky Henderson horse is a huge honour.”
Henderson has no plans in mind for OK Corral, but was thrilled to see him return to winning form.
He said: “It was great to see him back as he has not been that lucky so far this season, but he is back on track now.
“He over raced in the Ladbrokes Trophy and he probably didn’t get the trip. We went to Cheltenham over two-mile-five which I thought was a good idea, but he made a mistake coming up the hill and that knocked him out of the race. He has done nothing wrong.
“Everybody was riding everywhere so I rang JP and Frank Berry (racing manager) and said ‘I know the man I want as he gave him great ride at Warwick last year and they were poetry’. I said ‘can I get Derek O’Connor back’, they agreed and he said he’d be there.
“It was a good weight-carrying performance, but I don’t know where that takes us. He is an old horse with very little racing. He had so many problems as a young horse and he didn’t go chasing until eight.
“I’ll talk to everybody and discuss what to put him in.”
After her ride on Fingerontheswitch, Wonnacott said: “I was pleased with him, he just jumped his way to the front too soon.
“He can be a bit of a monkey sometimes when he’s out on his own in front, but he ran an absolute blinder.”
Sky Bet Chase
(Formerly The Great Yorkshire Chase)
£100,000 added, 5yo plus, 2m 7f 214yds, Class 1
14 ran
Going: Good to Soft, Good in places
1 OK Corral 10 11-12 Nicky Henderson Mr Derek O'Connor 9/1
2 ½ Fingerontheswitch 10 10-12 Neil Mulholland Miss Millie Wonnacott 10/1
3 14 Chidswell 11 10-13 Nicky Richards Brian Hughes 16/1
4 2½ Ravenhill Road 9 10-13 Sue Smith Danny Cook 6/1
5 1¼ Dingo Dollar 8 11-12 Alan King Tom Cannon 8/1
6 1¾ Cobra De Mai 8 11-10 Dan Skelton William Marshall 16/1
7 6 Quarenta 8 11-5 Jonjo O'Neill Jonjo O'Neill Jr 8/1
8 4 Burbank 8 11-11 Nicky Henderson Jeremiah McGrath 11/2
9 1 Monbeg River 11 10-8 Martin Todhunter Sean Quinlan 18/1
10 2½ Good Man Pat 7 11-0 Alan King Alexander Thorne 5/1F
11 ½ Solomon Grey 8 11-4 Dan Skelton Bridget Andrews 14/1
12 7½ Azzerti 8 11-3 Alan King A P Heskin 14/1
13 29 Calipto 10 11-12 Venetia Williams Hugh Nugent 28/1
PU Looksnowtlikebrian 9 11-0 Tim Vaughan James Bowen 50/1
