Bobs Worth made a stunning return to the winner’s enclosure in a hurdles race at Aintree in which he outbattled his more fancied stablemate Simonsig. The winner, whose most recent British success had been in the Cheltenham Gold Cup of 2013, looked a spent force in his three races last winter but will now demand consideration in the Hennessy Gold Cup at the end of this month.
“It’s been a long way back for both of them from the wilderness,” said Nicky Henderson, who trains the pair at his Lamourn yard, “but we’ve made a bit of progress. We’re delighted with both of them, obviously. They’re a bit more than halfway back.
“Simonsig was fantastic. Barry [Geraghty] said he got tired turning in, he was empty at the second-last and he had to hang on to him. It was probably a bit far for him in that ground, but Bobs Worth stays.
“We haven’t got a plan for Simonsig. I’d like to go back over fences. You saw how keen he was, we had to take the freshness out of him.”
Having been a 25-1 shot for the Hennessy, which he won three years ago, Bobs Worth is now available at a general 14-1 for the Newbury race in three weeks’ time. Partnered by Nico de Boinville on this occasion, he might possibly be reunited there with Geraghty, who has been aboard for all but three of his races.
Simonsig holds an entry in the King George on Boxing Day but Henderson remains unconvinced that the grey is a staying chaser and his failure to settle in the early stages of this race is another point in favour of shorter distances. But this first outing for 970 days did at least suggest that Simonsig can still win quality contests.
Continuing the theme of positive portents, this one-two for troubled Henderson veterans bodes well for the return to action of Sprinter Sacre at Cheltenham next Sunday. Referred to by the trainer as “the third leg of this triumvirate”, Sprinter Sacre was recognised as one of the great steeplechasers in racing history after winning his first 10 races over fences but he has been unsuccessful and assailed by setbacks for the past two years.
Paul Nicholls re-established his habit of winning major Saturday races by sending Irving to land the Elite Hurdle at Wincanton. The champion jumps trainer gave the horse a breathing operation over the summer but feared Irving might need this run on his way to the Fighting Fifth Hurdle at Newcastle on 28 November.
“We sorted his breathing out in the summer and it’s amazing how it holds them back when they can’t breath,” Nicholls said. “Nick [Scholfield] has been very sweet on him in the approach to today and said he just changed gear. We’ve done different things with him and the obvious route now is to go for the Fighting Fifth. The only way he would not go there is if Newcastle couldn’t stage the race, in which case there’s a nice contest at Haydock for him.
“It never happened for him last year and, to be honest, we thought he’d need it today. Nick says Cheltenham doesn’t really suit him, as it takes him time to warm up, so at this stage the Champion Hurdle isn’t on his agenda.”
Nicholls’s The Ould Lad was a well-backed favourite for the Badger Ales Chase but the trainer had been cautious beforehand in assessing the chance of a horse who has only been in his yard for two months. In the event, the seven-year-old was toiling from some way out on rain-softened ground. Drop Out Joe, trained by Charlie Longsdon, battled to an 11-1 success over Royal Palladium.
