Menorah survives last fence scare at Taunton
Jockey Richard Johnson and the 1-4 favourite experienced crossed wires as they attempted to negotiate the last, but as he was so far clear of his two opponents, it scarcely mattered.
Menorah had unseated Johnson under similar circumstances on his chasing debut at Exeter and trainer Philip Hobbs decided to switch him back to hurdles only to see the six-year-old relinquish his title in the International at Cheltenham when only fourth.
Other than the last, and a less serious mistake at the first fence of the toteexacta Novices’ Chase, Menorah showed undeniable potential at the discipline and produced several exquisite leaps on the final circuit.
“Nobody wanted to make the running and he was a bit brave and came out of my hands at the first,” said Johnson.
“He put down at the last and stumbled on the other side, but he’ll learn from that.”
Hobbs added: “They should call them nervous chases rather than novice chases!
“At the last Richard thought he was going to stand off, and in fact he put down. But I thought he jumped everything else really well.
“The plan is the Arkle and work backwards from there. Ideally he wants good ground, which isn’t too easy to find at the moment, and I’d like to give him some more practice. There’s room for two runs before Cheltenham, if we want to.”
Royale’s Charter finished second, 13 lengths behind.
Taunton is a sympathetic course for youngsters and it provided the perfect introduction to jumping for Grumeti in the totequadpot Novices’ Hurdle.
Useful on the Flat for Michael Bell, Grumeti (11-2) has been transferred to Alan King and cantered 18 lengths clear of the 13-8 favourite Ted Spread.
A juvenile running against some older horses – admittedly receiving a healthy weight allowance – Grumeti represents owner Max McNeill, who has been well-rewarded by others in the sphere like Mille Chief and Walkon.
“We’ve been looking forward to running him but we would have been happy if he had run into a place first time,” said King.
Asked if Grumeti could be a Triumph Hurdle horse, for which Stan James offer just 10-1, King went on: “We were hoping he could be in the best two or three, but I’ve got Vendor running on Saturday and Balder Success at Plumpton on Monday to come.
“We’ll see how they get on and then make plans, but I’d say this horse will have a couple more runs somewhere.”
Paul Nicholls and Daryl Jacob managed to clinch both divisions of the Play The Big Money totejackpot Today Novices’ Hurdle with chasers of the future.
Division one was more expected, as 6-4 favourite Black Thunder split subsequent Kempton winners Tetlami and Knight Pass at Sandown, but he only just held on from Captain Sunshine. “It was a good race at Sandown – the other two are good horses who have both won since,” said Nicholls. “He’s still green but has now won a bumper and a novice hurdle, and will make a nice chaser in time.”
