Saffie Osborne, who is in her first season as a fully-fledged professional having ridden out her claim in November, landed the most valuable success of her career at Chester on Friday as Metier stayed on strongly from the top of the straight to beat Zoffee by a neck in the Tote Chester Cup.
Harry Fry’s gelding had a disappointing time over hurdles over the winter, when he was pulled up on both his starts, but bounced back to the form that had seen horse and rider take last season’s November Handicap at Doncaster off an 8lb lower mark. The first prize of £76,000 was just over twice as much as Metier won on Town Moor six months ago.
