Time may show that Grey Dawning, the two-length runner-up, was the most talented horse in the Betfair Chase, but the grittiest and most indefatigable runner was undoubtedly Royale Pagaille, who simply refused to concede defeat after an extended three-mile trip on stamina-sapping ground. Little wonder then that behind his trademark Ray-Bans, Rich Ricci, Royale Pagaille’s owner, was more than a little emotional as he celebrated his 100th Grade One winner.
A staying chase on deep ground at Haydock is one of the toughest tests that jumping can offer, and one that Venetia Williams’ 10-year-old has now passed five times in six attempts. It was a slow motion finish as Royale Pagaille responded to Charlie Deutsch’s final call to arms and hauled himself past Grey Dawning after jumping the last fence with a length to find, but all the more dramatic as a result, as the winner, who had led until after the second-last, clawed his way back.
For Ricci, the win summed up everything that first brought him into the jumping game. The first Grade One winner in his famous pink and green colours was Mikael D’Haguenet, in the two-and-a-half-mile novice at the Cheltenham festival in 2009, and his 100th was only the second – after Royale Pagaille in this race last year – not to be trained by Willie Mullins.
“The rain came, it was all teed-up and Venetia’s done a brilliant job with him,” Ricci said. “It’s our 100th Grade One, it would have been nice if Willie had done it because he’s done 98 of them, but it keeps him on his toes.
“A lot of the horses we’ve had have been incredibly talented and while he’s talented too, he’s sort of a journeyman, and I like the underdog. He tries hard, and that’s important to me.
“You can make as much money as you want, but you can’t buy thrills, happiness and emotion and that is what this sport brings. We’ve had some great days and some horrible days and it’s these things you live for. It’s why you’re in the game and I love it.”
Uttoxeter 1.15 Lud’Or 12.50 Crazierthandaisy 1.25 Shanagh Bob 2.00 Below The Radar (nb) 2.35 Flash In The Park 3.10 Yealand 3.40 Skiffle Man
Exeter 12.30 Clotilda 1.05 Dameofthecotswolds 1.40 Theformismighty 2.15 Kabral Du Mathan 2.50 Livin On Luco (nap) 3.25 Golden Move 4.00 Brownstone
It was tough on Grey Dawning, possibly Britain’s best hope for the Gold Cup at Cheltenham in March, that his first race outside novice company pitched him against such a resolute and courageous course-specialist, but he too emerged from the race with plenty of credit.
“I’m gutted but at the end of the day, the winner is a hard horse to beat and I take my hat off to him,” Dan Skelton, Grey Dawning’s trainer, said. “It looked like we had him beat, but he found a little bit more.
“He’s improved on last year, that’s for sure. The way he jumped on the way round was superb.”
Skelton added that Grey Dawning will now be given a few weeks to recover and his next race will probably be a Gold Cup trial in late January or early February. He is unchanged at around 16-1 for the Gold Cup, in a market that could see significant changes on Sunday afternoon after the top three in the list – Galopin Des Champs, Fastorslow and Fact To File – contest the Grade One John Durkan Memorial Chase at Punchestown.
Elsewhere, Nicky Henderson, the trainer of Constitution Hill, told Sky Sports Racing that the problem causing lameness in the 2023 Champion Hurdle winner has been identified as a pocket of bruising that is pressing on a nerve near a pastern and could take “three days or three weeks” to resolve.
“Dave Mathieson [Henderson’s vet] says he hasn’t seen anything like this in 40 years of practice,” Henderson said. “Dave’s opinion was, the minimum could be three days and the maximum could be three weeks. If it’s three days we’ll get to Kempton [on 26 December], if it’s three weeks we wouldn’t get to Kempton – that’s as near to black and white as you can get.”
