Russell Roques in Mildmay
Colm Murphy’s gelding can be cumbersome at times and fired Russell up in the air at the second-last before putting his best foot forward to repel the relentless challenge of 50-1 shot Sarando by a neck.
Master Of The Hall had a tired fall at the last with The Giant Bolster also going to ground, while the front-running Golan Way took more than a few chances en-route to finishing third.
The recent winners of this Grade Two, Big Buck’s aside, have become decent staying handicappers rather than Gold Cup horses and Murphy had deliberately avoided Cheltenham with Quito De La Roque, who had a useful record in heavy ground in Ireland.
“He’s tough work and an idle old devil, but every time I ask him, he almost tries too hard,” said Russell.
“When I gave him a squeeze to jump, he over-jumps like he did at the second-last but he landed and gathered himself together.”
Murphy explained: “He’s a bit of a character and he’d pull himself up if he got half a chance but he certainly has an engine.
“He’s a big, raw horse and we weren’t sure about the undulations of Cheltenham so we came here instead.
“We won’t get carried away with him, but he’ll grow up and improve.
“I’m not sure where we’ll go next with him, but he’s one to look forward to for next year."
