The Cheltenham Festival came early at Bath this afternoon, as soon after Paul Nicholls struck with Divin Bere, Willie Mullins showed how good his horses can be over the flat when winning a listed contest with True Self. Colin Keane cruised into contention 3 furlongs out and kept his mount up to his work in the final few strides to win readily. Smart performance.
James Doyle completed a hat-trick of winners at Nottingham with victory aboard Collide in the Integral UK handicap. A typical Doyle ride, he kept this son of Frankel wide on the course, to switch to the near rail and went readily clear. Has clearly learned a lot from his most recent outting when fourth at Ayr, and has progressed into a well handicapped horse.
Jason Watson’s fine season continued with a win in the TBA #thisfillycan Fillies’ Handicap aboard Jedhi. Trained by Hughie Morrison, this horse has been applying his trade mostly on the AW, but has since switched his better form to turf and proved he can stay 1m6f.
Despite being a small field, the Bet at RacingUK.com Novices’ Chase provided plenty of drama. Lough Derg Spirit made his chasing debut and despite a few mistakes, Nico de Boinville sat tight. Gentleman James was pulled up, El Terremoto fell, which meant Cool Mix was the only other finisher.