Amanpuri completes Fontwell hat-trick
Amanpuri completed a hat-trick of successes at Fontwell with a typically gutsy performance to land the Weatherbys Bank Handicap Hurdle.
Alison Thorpe’s gelding is so familiar with the contours of the figure-of-eight circuit that he goes round it like clockwork and he made every yard of the running under Christian Williams.
For a few strides Lewis Island looked a big danger but a mistake at the second-last proved crucial.
That error left Amanpuri, the 9-4 favourite, to battle on against the stands rail and hold his rival by a length, with The Hairy Lemon six lengths further away.
Thorpe, who has recently boosted her string with purchases at the Ascot sales, said of her winner: “Apart from his three wins here he ran well to finish second at Plumpton and is a game little thing.
“He didn’t get put up for his previous win and I pray the same thing happens again. He really puts his head down and tries.”
Although he is not a natural jumper, Lord Olympia made only two slight mistakes on his way to justifying odds-on favouritism for Venetia Williams and Sam Thomas in the Eau de Cologne Novices’ Handicap Chase.
The 8-15 chance, who has three entries at the Cheltenham Festival, jumped to the front at the fourth-last and gradually pulled away to score by 14 lengths from Fisherman Jack.
Jerry Roberts, who travels the Williams horses, defended Lord Olympia’s jumping and said: “He did it just as well as anything else in the field and only got close to a couple. This course is far from ideal as he’s a big, long striding horse.”
Fontwell’s top trainer Gary Moore teamed up with his rider son Jamie to take the Bay Studio Signs Littlehampton 01903 717227 Maiden Hurdle with even-money favourite Grasp.
Like Amanpuri, Moore kept Grasp wide in search of better ground and the combination survived quite a bad mistake at the last to beat Beare Necessities by five lengths.
The trainer had taken Grasp out of a race at Sandown 24 hours earlier for fear the going may have been too quick.
“I was hoping we would get a drop of rain here just to loosen it up,” he said.
“I don’t mind saying that they do race here when they should really call it off and at the meeting last week the horses were galloping through water.
“With a good horse you would certainly think twice about running him here in those conditions.”
Grasp has obtained a handicap mark through this success and if there is some cut in the ground he could run in the Fred Winter Juvenile Novices’ Handicap Hurdle at Cheltenham.
The same combination notched a 11-1 double with the well-backed Silverio (5-1) in the Dennis Casey 70th Birthday Celebration Handicap Hurdle.
The German-bred gelding returned fresh from a 10-week break to get the better of Zeloso by four lengths after a battle up the straight.
Victor Dartnall successfully brought Philomena (12-1) back from a 655-day absence in the Betbrokers ’Betting Just Got Better’ Mares’ Only Novices’ Hurdle.
Paddy Brennan’s mount was in front throughout and survived a mistake at the last to score by a length and a quarter from Cemgraft, with Sweet Oona another eight lengths away third.
Brennan was another jockey to keep his mount wide and Dartnall said: “I walked the course and told Paddy to go round the outside.
“This mare had had a long break following a bit of leg trouble after her win at a Exeter bumper. The owners have been very patient with her and I’d like to think my horses are just coming back to form.”
Foxmeade Dancer (9-4) beat Denarius Secundus by six lengths in the Betbrokers Open An Account on 0844 855 2111 Novices’ Handicap Chase, despite his rider Andrew Thornton putting up 4lb overweight.
