Close Brothers Imperial Cup |
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| Grade 3 Handicap Hurdle, Sandown 15:10 £70,000 added, 4yo plus, 1m 7f 216y, Class 1  |
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| Saturday 12th March 2016 | |
1 Flying Angel 9/1
2 Solstice Star 11/1
3 Spice Fair 20/1
NR: Sunshine Corner (IRE)
14 ran Distances: 5l, 4½l, 16l
TIME 4m 5.80s (slow by 20.80s)
Flying Angel powers to impressive Imperial Cup success
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Nigel Twiston-Davies' novice was always in the front rank, along with Solstice Star, For Good Measure and Allee Bleue who opened up a gap on the field rounding the turn for home.
As Allee Bleue and For Good Measure dropped away, Solstice Star took the lead in his bid for a six-timer for Martin Keighley.
However, Flying Angel was travelling the better and he took the lead approaching the last, with Ryan Hatch pushing him out for a five-length success.
Solstice Star was second, with Spice Fair and Affaire d'Honneur running on for third and fourth respectively.
Hatch said: "He travels really well, but is still a big baby and I was in front miles too soon.
"He just pricked his ears and wasn't doing a tap, I felt if a horse came to him he'd have gone again.
"I'm really thrilled with that, from day one he's always been an accurate jumper and he's one for fences as well."
Twiston-Davies said: "The man you have to congratulate for this win is my son, Sam, he found the race as he said he probably wouldn't get in at Cheltenham, but he would probably get in this race. So we followed his advice and here we are."
The Sandown feature traditionally carries a bonus from the sponsors if the winner can follow up at the Cheltenham Festival, but that is not the case this year.
Twiston-Davies, winning the race for the first time, added: "Only when I win it is the bonus gone!
"He's still in the Martin Pipe and other handicaps (at Cheltenham), but we will see how he is.
"Ryan said he was just doing enough, which is one thing which makes us think it might be possible to run next week.
"He is very good and ran a superb race in the Betfair Hurdle at Newbury, I thought he had a good chance today and it showed he definitely stays. Looking at the size of him, chasing will be the future.
"We've always had aspirations for him, the owner asked us to buy a special horse and thank goodness it worked."
Close Brothers Imperial Cup Handicap Hurdle
£70,000 added, 4yo plus, 1m 7f 216y, Class 1
14 ran
Going: Soft, Heavy in places
| Pos | Dist | Horse SP | Jockey Weight | Trainer | Age |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Flying Angel (IRE) 9/1 | Ryan Hatch (3) 10-10 |
N A Twiston-Davies | 5 | |
| 2nd | 5 | Solstice Star 11/1 | Killian Moore (3) 10-11 |
M Keighley | 6 |
| 3rd | 4½ | Spice Fair 20/1 | Wayne Hutchinson 10-7 |
M D I Usher | 9 |
| 4th | 16 | Affaire D'honneur (FR) 9/2f | G Sheehan 10-10 |
H Whittington | 5 |
| 5th | 1¾ | Allee Bleue (IRE) 12/1 | R Johnson 10-12 |
P J Hobbs | 6 |
| 6th | 2 | Rayvin Black 11/1 | Thomas Garner (3) 11-12 |
O Sherwood | 7 |
| 7th | 1 | Knockgraffon (IRE) 11/1 | Harry Skelton 10-9 |
D Skelton | 6 |
| 8th | ½ | Sirop De Menthe (FR) 14/1 | Lucy Gardner (3) 10-7 |
Mrs S Gardner | 6 |
| 9th | 2 | Prairie Town (IRE) 25/1 | Lee Edwards 10-6 |
A W Carroll | 5 |
| 10th | 1½ | Sea Wall (FR) 40/1 | Tom Cannon 10-7 |
C Gordon | 8 |
| 11th | 4½ | Clayton 7/1 | Joshua Moore 10-0 |
G L Moore | 7 |
| 12th | 15 | For Good Measure (IRE) 6/1 | B J Geraghty 10-7 |
P J Hobbs | 5 |
| PU | Ebony Express 12/1 | W Kennedy 10-7 |
Dr R D P Newland | 7 | |
| PU | Ozzy Thomas (IRE) 25/1 | P J Brennan 10-0 |
Henry Oliver | 6 | |
| NR | Sunshine Corner (IRE) 20/1 | Non Runner 10-4 |
Mrs L Wadham | 5 |
