Long shot Wendel wins at Plumpton
Charlie Mann was staggered at Wendel's starting price of 10-1 as his German import made a pleasing debut over hurdles on a murky afternoon at Plumpton.
The Lambourn trainer has been firing in the winners with regularity and witnessed his stable star Air Force One returning with a thoroughly respectable second place finish to Roll Along at Ascot on Saturday.
He remains bound for the Hennessy Gold Cup and Mann can now look to the future with the grey Wendel, who sped away on the run-in for Noel Fehily to defeat longtime leader Crystal Prince by five lengths in the Monk Marketing Unity Maiden Hurdle.
"I put him up as one to follow in my stable tour, so I can't believe he was that price," said Mann.
"He won at Deauville over a mile and a half on his last race and had decent form in Germany. I wish I was a betting man, as we think he's a lovely horse."
Reflecting on Air Force One, he added: "I was very proud of him - I was a bit disappointed he didn't win but hopefully the handicapper won't be hard on him when the Hennessy weights come out next week."
The other race for the notebook was the Ricoh UK "National Hunt" Novices' Hurdle, where Alderluck made it an across-the-card double for Nick Gifford.
It developed into an absorbing battle of wits between Jay Pemberton aboard the dual bumper winner and Dominic Elsworth and the well-built 7-4 favourite Finney.
Finney's jumping was much superior in the home straight but he lacked the requisite finishing speed and Alderluck (4-1) nipped ahead close home.
"Nick thought he was going to saddle the winner so he went with Helium to Warwick and left me here," explained Gifford's sister, the Olympic three-day eventer Tina Cook.
"He coped well with the sticky ground and although his two bumper wins were a surprise, he has benefited from plenty of time since."
Runners from Jim and Tom Best's nearby stable always merit attention and locals must have thought the 100-30 favourite Thursday's Knight was an absolute gift in the Bluebird Community Partnership Conditional Jockeys' Handicap Hurdle.
Several of his rivals were withdrawn, leaving Marc Goldstein to land the odds with embarrassing ease.
"That was the first of our runners this year that we seriously fancied," said Jim Best.
"Blinkers helped, but to be honest it was such a bad race I couldn't find any dangers."
Richard Johnston and Dillay Brook (5-1) saw the Limpio Office Solutions Novices' Handicap Chase go their way when Bynack Mhor crashed out at the last.
David Pipe's 6-4 favourite Bathwick Man rather lost momentum turning into the back straight for the final time in the Bluebird Dial-A-Ride Juvenile Novices' Claiming Hurdle but regained his composure to score easily.
Richard Rowe completed a tasty piece of business as High Oscar arrived from Ireland to take the Bluebird Group Hire Handicap Chase at odds of 10-1.
"I shook hands on a deal with the new owners 10 minutes before the race. What they don't know is they now owe me a drink!" quipped Rowe.
Johnson completed a double in reasonable style on Balthazar King (5-1) in the Bluebird Community Partnership Maiden Open National Hunt Flat Race.
