Timely success for Thomas
Sam Thomas, the man Henrietta Knight has appointed to partner Racing Demon in the Arkle Trophy at Cheltenham, got a monkey off his back when successfully teaming up with the Wantage trainer at Newbury.
The young rider landed the Vodafone “National Hunt” Novices’ Hurdle on Smart Mover and revealed he had gone quite a long time since his previous win for Knight.
Thomas came late to get the better by a neck of a good scrap with Original Thought and afterwards said: “It’s a long time since my last winner for Henrietta, but having said that there have been no occasions when I didn’t win on one I should have.”
He added he had ridden Racing Demon in what he described as “a good bit of work” earlier in the week and was greatly looking forward to teaming up with him at the Festival.
“Racing Demon gave me a great feel in his work and I can’t wait to ride him in the Arkle,” he said.
