Golden Ace takes full advantage of scarcely believable Champion Hurdle
FULL ADVANTAGE: Lorcan Williams onboard Golden Ace celebrates winning. Pic:@INPHO/Tom Maher
If youâre not in, you canât win, and nothing but credit must go to connections of Golden Ace, who emerged victorious at the climax of the most eventful Unibet Champion Hurdle run in decades.
The decision by trainer Jeremy Scott and owner Ian Gosden to go where Lossiemouth did not looked particularly shrewd when that one dotted up in the Maresâ Hurdle, but scarcely could they have dreamed just how prudent a move it would prove just 40 minutes later.
Oh, Constitution Hill! Oh, State Man! Oh, Brigtherdaysahead. Oh, God! How to pick the bones out of this one... Constitution Hill was backed as though defeat were out of the question and Nico de Boinville jumped him off in third place, keen to keep tabs on Brighterdaysahead, who took the box seat behind stablemate King Of Kingsfield. All went swimmingly for four hurdles, but the fifth proved insurmountable for the former champion, as he took off early, put his front legs down on the flight, and crashed out of contention.
Whether Jack Kennedy, aboard Brighterdaysahead, was aware of what had happened behind him was difficult to ascertain, though the groan from the crowd would have been audible all the way across Gloucester. But it mattered not, for his mount was not going with her usual enthusiasm, and when reigning champ State Man â the forgotten horse of the race â loomed large on the turn for home, her race was all but run.
Paul Townend and State Man moved on from that point, opening up an advantage of some four lengths approaching the final obstacle, with back-to-back wins in the race seemingly at his mercy. But woe betide he who takes anything for granted at this sport's greatest arena , and the final obstacle, not for the first time, proved the nemesis of Willie Mullins.
State Man appeared to approach the hurdle perfectly, with Townend riding him into it as one would expect with a championship race on the line, but the horse left the ground early, came down a shade too soon, and crashed to the earth in the most dramatic fashion.
Golden Ace, who had been hampered by the fall of Constitution Hill, was progressing nicely in behind and was placed to take full advantage. Running on strongly up the hill, just as she did when accounting for Brighterdaysahead in the Maresâ Novice Hurdle here 12 months ago, she and jockey Lorcan Williams raced to a nine-length victory, at odds of 25-1, beating 66-1 chance Burdett Road and 150-1 chance Winter Fog in the most unpredictable of tricasts.
âI couldnât even dream it â for Godâs sake, thump me, because I must be fast asleep at the moment!â said Scott, whose winner became the seventh mare to triumph in the Champion Hurdle.
âMy owner and I were not at loggerheads, but he was very keen to have a runner here today. We thought we could nick a little bit of prize-money, and we didnât feel we could possibly beat Lossiemouth, so itâs extraordinary how things work out.â Of the vanquished, Nicky Henderson reported Constitution Hill seemingly okay after his tumble.
âHe seems fine,â the Seven Barrows trainer said. âHe is very bright and breezy, but of course he hasnât had a race.
âHe has been in terrific form I have got to say, but poor old State Man as well. You couldnât believe those two old silly old fools have gone and done what they have done today.
âThey will do these silly things. It is tough, and we have to live with it, as we know what we are playing with. That is the game, you have to take these things, but it is difficult when it is on a day like this.
âYou have to live with these things, but it is cruel as we waited two years to get him back here.â Willie Mullins, who came agonisingly close to winning a sixth Champion Hurdle as State Man traded at 1.04 (1-25) before his fall, reported: âHe was just long at it and popped the top of it, but these things happen. At least we made the right decision (as to which race to run the horses in), but the hurdles are there to be jumped.â Gordon Elliott was left struggling to explain the performance of Brighterdaysahead, who passed the post a tired fourth.
"To be honest with you she was well beaten even with nearly getting brought down at the last," he said.
"Jack said she whinnied crossing the line, so that would be a worry and we'll have to get her checked out and see how she is. She was very distressed.
"Last year she finished her race, but today she was walking going to the last and she didn't run her race."
