Polar Scout blazes trail as Johnson steps in for double
Fehily contracted an infection in an ankle at the weekend and he has been on antibiotics since, so he had to give up the rides on the winning duo for his boss Charlie Mann.
He cheered on from ground level and said: “I hope to be back at Bangor tomorrow, touch wood, as I feel fine and drove the governor down here.”
Polar Scout (2-1) won the David Edwards Memorial Handicap Chase by a length and a quarter from the veteran Sir Talbot and Mann said: “He was due a win after being unlucky twice.”
Versus (100-30) had five lengths to spare over Whist Drive in the long-distance Ruckinge Maiden Hurdle and was the 25th winner Mann has trained for owner John Davies.
Johnson said the entire needed to have his mind made up for him but did it well, and added: “He is still a baby really.”
Eric’s Charm (15-8), who had a horrendous fall at Lingfield last time out which trainer Oliver Sherwood thought could have cost him his life, showed no sign of it as he landed the Aintree Club Michael Gore Memorial Beginners’ Chase.
The talented six-year-old ran on resolutely under champion jockey Tony McCoy to win the three-mile-one-furlong contest by three lengths and a neck from Hirvine and Too Forward.
Nicky Henderson’s ex-French five-year-old Lustral Du Seuil galloped away with the C R Child & Partners Novices’ Hurdle (Div I), winning hard-held for Andrew Tinkler.
He beat the favourite Saltango and French raider Mistral Boy by eight lengths and the same.
Mark Pitman landed the second division of the novices’ hurdle with Limited Edition, who had been off the course for 620 days. The 4-1 shot won readily under Seamus Durack.
