This was an extra meeting, arranged to help compensate for the wet-weather abandonments of so many fixtures around the country in the last month or two. The first hurdle and the second fence in the home straight were omitted on account of the heavy going. Any punters who piled into the first six winning favourites were not complaining, though.
Harry Whittington’s Stick With Bill (8/11 fav) made virtually all the running in the opener, a 2m4f maiden hurdle, and should have won rather more easily than the length and three quarters verdict over Fado Des Brosses suggests. Ungainly leaps at the final two flights cost him some momentum, but Gavin Sheehan sat tight and they were in control on the run-in.
Rarely will Ffos Las have seen an easier victory than that of Irish point winner Deja Vue (1/5 fav) in the mares-only maiden hurdle over 2m. She led throughout, cantered well clear turning into the straight and came in 40 lengths ahead of Annajemima. Aidan Coleman enjoyed an armchair ride on Anthony Honeyball’s mare, who will have exerted herself more on the gallops at home.
A 2m3f novice chase came next. The third odds-on made-all winner in a row was Golden Whisky (4/6 fav), trained by the in-form Evan Williams, whose Champion Hurdle third Silver Streak runs at Newcastle on Saturday. The favourite repeatedly jumped a little to the right, but not enough to be a serious problem for his jockey Adam Wedge. He held off the persistent challenge of Some Can Dance by two and a half lengths.
The 2m4f handicap hurdle resulted in another procession once Air Horse One (6/4 fav) took over in front on the final bend. He gradually drew further and further away from Iron Horse to come in 30 lengths ahead. Sean Bowen rode the winner for Harry Fry.
Sean Bowen completed a quick double in the second mares’ race of the afternoon, a 2m4f handicap hurdle, which brought another Welsh-trained winner. Rebecca Curtis’s Special Princess (15/8 fav) was revitalised when scoring here over half a mile further in similarly testing conditions in October, and had no difficulty in following up. She hit the front at the second last and soon had the race sewn up, pulling nine lengths clear of Talkingpicturestv. Running her again on Saturday at Bangor is a possibility.
Definately Vinnie, one of a few horses in Jane Mathias’s yard, was a shade unfortunate not to win the 3m1f chase. He took the lead at the first fence in the straight, going well, only to be harried and eventually worried out of it by Truckers Cailin, ridden by Tom O’Brien. The 9/4 favourite went ahead with a hundred yards to go and won by a length and three quarters, enhancing Hampshire trainer Paul Henderson’s decent record at Ffos Las.
The bumper was the only race not to be won by the favourite, though at 7/4 he wasn’t difficult to find. Mario De Pail went ahead three furlongs out and ran on willingly under pressure to beat Gustavian by almost four lengths. It was another success for the home team, for Dai Walters owned him, Ben Jones rode him and he is trained near Cardiff by Sam Thomas.
