Huw Edwards was the star at Stratford’s evening hunters’ chase meeting yesterday when he rode a treble and won the card’s two most valuable races.
Victory on Gracchus De Balme (15/8f) (pictured above) in the Pertemps Network Foxhunters’ Champion Hunters’ Chase (for the Horse & Hound Cup) completed the hat-trick and brought up a double for Nantwich trainer Joe O’Shea. Edwards said: “It’s unreal to win another big one. I’m just lucky to be on them.”
The two men had earlier combined to land the Pointing Pointers Restricted Novices’ Hunters’ Chase with Barton Snow (1/3f).
Huw Edwards, the Shropshire rider who notched a treble at one of the season's highlight meetings (Ce)
The middle leg of the rider’s treble was gained on Jeux D’Eau (4/1), winner of the pointtopoint.uk Champion Novices’ Hunters’ Chase (for the John Corbet Cup) for Shropshire trainer Laura Richardson, who is Edwards’ partner and is based at his family farm. All three horses were following up notable last-time out victories in a key race or at a significant fixture. Gracchus De Balme, victorious in last month’s Randox Foxhunters’ Chase, carried the colours of Nantwich owner Derek Malam – who said his nine-year-old was now for sale – while Jeux D’Eau, who recently completed back-to-back wins in the Lady Dudley Cup, raced for another resident of Nantwich, David Heys. Barton Snow, who was following up a win in the two-miler at Cheltenham’s hunters’ chase meeting, scored for The MMI Partnership.
While Edwards had three good rides on the night his execution of the task in hand – as has invariably been the case this season – was faultless, making all the running in the featured races, but riding behind the pace on Barton Snow before unleashing his mount for an easy win.
Before racing Malam had said Gracchus De Balme would be his final runner, and that at 85, and with a 94-year-old sister “who looks after me”, he was hoping to finish on a high. Puffing on a trademark cigar, he said: “Fifty years ago I bought a horse at Doncaster Sales called Prime Justice, and he finished ninth in the Grand National. Since that time I’ve had 120 to 130 winners under rules and in point-to-points but I’ve always said I wanted to win the Horse & Hound Cup – I don’t know why, it’s just a race that has been in my head.”
Derek Malam, whose dreams of winning the Horse & Hound Cup were achieved thanks to Gracchus De Balme (Ce)
After a win that would fit well in a fairytale, Malam said: “Can you believe I’ve won it on my final day as an owner. I like travelling around the world to see different racecourses and that’s what I intend to keep doing, but I’m finishing as an owner and my horse is for sale. I bought Gracchus De Balme through Thoroughbid [online sale] and I’m sure they would take him again.”
O’Shea said of Gracchus De Balme, who beat the Alan Hill-trained Learntalot (22/1) by 15 lengths: “Mr Malam always said he wanted to win the Horse & Hound Cup and when we got this one [in July last year for £12,500 out of Joseph O’Brien’s yard] I said this is the horse that can do it. He won at Aintree, then we didn’t sit on him before Cheltenham, but Mr Malam said put him on the lorry with Barton Snow, so he ran there and blew up coming up the hill.
“We then gave him a week off and started training him for this race. People said he would stop in the home straight, but not today, not if I train them, they don’t stop. I’ve put a £10 win charity Yankee on for the Injured Jockeys’ Fund and they’ve all gone in so I’ll be giving £1,000 to the IJF.”
Of Barton Snow he said: “He could go on for another two or three months because we just can’t get to the end of the horse. Everything he does he just looks at you and says ‘Is that it?’. On our gallops this horse could beat Constitution Hill – he’s unbelievable. Now our eyes are on next season and the Walrus [at Haydock] and then the Foxhunters’ [Aintree]. If we get good ground it will be interesting.”
Barton Snow (red/yellow colours) is kept just behind the pace as the runners clear the water jump (Ce)
Edwards and Richardson have dual roles, for they ride out with O’Shea and will then often work their horses on the same gallop. The format seems to suit seven-year-old Jeux D’Eau, who despite jumping to his right made the runing before beating Red Delta by eight lengths, confirming his defeat of that horse in the Lady Dudley Cup. Edwards said: “He stays very well so I wanted to make it a good test of stamina. He keeps finding. He does tend to jump to his right, but he was worse today – we’ll get him home and have a good look at him, but he probably just needs a holiday.”
Richardson said: “People have said his hunters’ chase form is a bit of a letdown, but today he showed other novices where he’s at – and he’ll be better next season. He can jump and gallop all day. For me this is amazing. It’s a win that makes all the hard days working during the winter worth doing. I’m ready for a lie-in now. We say we’ll be going on holiday every year and we haven’t been for the last three years.”
Jeux D'Eau jumps to his right but goes on to win the pointtopoint.co.uk Champion Novices' Hunters' Chase (Ce)
Heys said of Jeux D’Eau: “I saw him finish second at Eyton on his first run and tried to buy a 50 per cent share, but they weren’t selling. Then he won at Tabley and I managed to get the share, although I had to pay a bit more. I liked his fluency and the way he pricked his ears while other horses had theirs flat back.”
On a night when inexpensively-bought horses shone there was another front-line triumph for Famous Clermont (1/2f), a £5,000 purchase by trainer Chris Barber at Doncaster in 2019, and who chalked up his sixth hunters’ chase victory when beating Fairly Famous in the Olly Murphy Racing Ladies’ Hunters’ Chase. Izzie Hill took the reins as the partnership complete back-to-back victories in the race.
Fairly Famous (Gina Andrews) is about to touch down narrowly in front at the last, but Famous Clermont (Izzie Hill) will not be denied (Ce)
Barber, who moved to a new base in Herefordshire before the start of the season, said of the ten-year-old: “He’s my favourite horse, and while he’s probably not as good as he once was he’s still hard to beat when things go right. We put cheekpieces on him tonight just to sharpen him up, and that worked well.”
Walkin Out tried to make a light weight tell by forcing the pace from half way in the tipsterreviews.co.uk Handicap Hunters’ Chase, but top-weight Rebel Dawn Rising was driven alongside on the final bend and proved too good under Dale Peters. Norfolk trainer David Kemp said of the winner: “When I saw he was off the bridle a fair way out and with that weight I thought he’s not going to make it, but the class just comes in. He is a fantastic horse – I would say he and Gracchus De Balme are the two best hunter chasers in the country by some way. This horse could win over two miles or three miles, and I thought about going for the big one, but ran Law Of Gold instead [pulled up].
Dale Peters and owner/trainer David Kemp after Rebel Dawn Rising's victory (Ce)
Heidi Palin finished third on Jeffery’s Cross in the Pertemps Network Champion Hunters’ Chase, but she went two better on the Dan Skelton-trained Frere D’Armes (10/1) in the White Swan Hotel Open Hunters’ Chase, the final race on the card in which The Big Lense finished runner-up.