Strong Flow proves his worth

Strong Flow justified all of the hype as he strode away with the Hennessy Cognac Gold Cup at Newbury today.

As he reached the start under Ruby Walsh before the prestigious contest, the six-year-old had everything to prove in the most competitive jumps race staged so far this season.

But by the finishing line, he had done everything that his supporters could have dreamed of as he coasted home 14 lengths clear of Joss Naylor.

The win was made all the more remarkable as he made a serious mistake at the ninth fence – which all but put him on the floor.

But in a race which enjoyed its fair share of incident, Strong Flow’s jumping was faultless from that point.

With One Knight, Sir Rembrandt and Take The Stand all out of the race by the third fence, the 21-runner field was quickly whittled down.

But by the time the runners approached the second-last fence, there were still half a dozen in with a shout as Barrow Drive, Joss Naylor and Hedgehunter disputed the advantage with the winner and others right behind.

However, two fine jumps and a rare burst of acceleration sealed a 14-length success for Strong Flow, returned the 5-1 joint-favourite.

Joss Naylor (6-1) ran a creditable race in second, one and a half lengths clear of Take Control (25-1), who stayed on from nowhere under Tony McCoy.

Hedgehunter (9-1), who tired noticeably having travelled strongest for much of the way, held on for fourth place for each-way punters.

Had any other horse landed the spoils with such ease, he would immediately have been in the reckoning for the Tote Cheltenham Gold Cup.

But Nicholls, mindful as ever of his horse, insisted that next year’s Cheltenham contest was not on the cards for his charge.

“We have always thought a lot of him and if he is going to be a serious horse, he would need to be rated in the 160s and so off a mark of 140 I hoped he would have something in hand,” Nicholls said.

“He had a little hiccup at Aintree when he fell, but if anything that helped him to grow up.

“The 2005 Gold Cup is the aim. He is a novice, a six-year-old, and we will look after him this season.

“We will stick to the normal novices’ route, and probably go for the Royal & SunAlliance at Cheltenham.”

Nicholls admitted that despite having won the race twice as a jockey, he had still felt his nerves racing before the start.

“I had a vodka and tonic and watched it in the bar,” he said.

“I was nervous. I had an easier option in a novice chase tomorrow for him and I could easily have decided to go that way with him.

“The doubts start to get to you and I really had to ask myself whether he was ready to run in such a big race.

“But Ruby was sure that this was the right one for him and I listened to him and the horse’s owner, Barry Marshall, who also wanted to run.

“He jumped brilliantly apart from that one mistake, and Ruby felt that it had helped him as he was tanking along a bit at the time and it helped to slow him down. It was a great performance.”

A mud-splattered Walsh agreed that he had been keen to allow Strong Flow to take his chance.

“It has been difficult for Paul because I really wanted him to run but he is the trainer and he has got to have the welfare of the horse in mind,” the rider said.

“We had a disagreement when he made his mistake. I wanted him to pop but he put in a long one and I nearly came off the back.

“But that’s the thing about races like this. You are always going to need luck and we had our share.

“He is a really good horse but Mr Nicholls will decide where we go next along with Mr Marshall. I don’t think it would be right to rush him too quickly.”

Having initially quoted the winner for the Cheltenham Gold Cup at around the 10-1 mark, bookmakers quickly issued revised prices for Strong Flow in the Royal & SunAlliance Chase, Coral and Paddy Power offering a best-priced 5-2.

Jonjo O’Neill, responsible for the runner-up Joss Naylor, said: “There are no hard luck stories about our boy who ran absolutely wonderfully. The only hard luck story was that the winner ran in it because we had no chance with a horse in that kind of form.”

Martin Pipe, who saddled the third Take Control, added: “You can’t take anything away from our horse because he ran a blinder.

“We have to decide where he will go next but luckily we’ve got a lot of horse to go anywhere with. The winner is something special on that form though.”

While Willie Mullins was thrilled with Hedgehunter, who will go for either the Coral Welsh National at Chepstow or the Paddy Power Chase at Leopardstown over Christmas.

“David (Casey) said he was a bit keen early on, as often happens when they are having their first run, and that is probably why he hasn’t quite got home,” Mullins said.

“But it was a great run and I really hope we can win a nice race with him this season.”

Richard Johnson, whose mount One Knight fell at the first fence, missed his remaining two rides. He was suffering from bruising, but expects to return to the saddle tomorrow.