Cyrname survives heavy fall as Riders Onthe Storm wins Ascot Chase
Riders Onthe Storm was a surprising but appropriately named winner of the Betfair Ascot Chase here on Saturday, but the biggest celebration of the afternoon arrived a few minutes later when Cyrname, the top-rated chaser in training, finally climbed to his feet after falling at the last fence when already beaten.
Many spectators feared the worst as the screens went up around Cyrname, one of two horses to fall at the obstacle. Traffic Fluide, who looked to be arriving with a winning run when he came down, was quickly on his feet, but Cyrname did not move after his fall. It was an immense relief when he finally rose from the turf and was led in to loud applause from the crowd.
“He just got winded but he’s fine now,” said Cyrname’s trainer, Paul Nicholls. “That ground just gets to them and it takes a while to get their breath back. The vets were brilliant, big result.
“It [the crowd’s reaction] is better than any winner, and we’ll get him back. I’d say we’d leave him to next season now. There’s something missing, I can’t really put my finger on it but he’ll be back and that’s the main thing.”
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Cyrname, the 4-11 favourite, looked likely to finish last of the four runners when he fell, and this had already been a performance shorn of the brilliance that carried him to the top of the ratings after the same race last year. His head-to-head with Altior here in November was probably the toughest race either has had in their careers and while Nicky Henderson’s chaser returned to winning form after a break last Saturday, Cyrname has failed to win on his next two starts.
The first sign that this was not the Cyrname of last season came when Riders Onthe Storm ranged alongside and then into the lead as they turned out of the back straight. Nigel Twiston-Davies’s chaser looked fortunate to maintain his lead to the line, however, as Traffic Fluide, a 50-1 outsider, was apparently about to take command when he fell.
“He was probably a lucky winner in the end,” Twiston-Davies said. “It was very much a jump in grade, but we were hopeful. You never think you are going to beat Cyrname, but he has had his problems since beating Altior.
“We thought we would come a good second and win £35,000 and go home very happy, but we have won £85,000 and gone home extremely happy.” Riders Onthe Storm was pushed out for the Ryanair Chase by Paddy Power, from 7-1 to 10-1.
The fact that Cyrname was only winded in his fall was the best news of the day but two horses did not return home after a storm-swept afternoon, including Also Mix, a faller in the Reynoldstown Chase here. At Lingfield, the hugely popular sprinter Kachy, one of the fastest horses in training, suffered a fatal injury in a six-furlong handicap.
Colin Tizzard hopes to see Copperhead, the Reynoldstown winner, develop into a Gold Cup horse over the next couple of seasons and believes Cheltenham’s National Hunt Chase, to be run over three miles and six furlongs for the first time this year, could be the six-year-old’s next step.
Copperhead, at 6-1, was the fifth choice of the six runners in the betting, but kept galloping and jumping as shorter-priced opponents dropped away. He crossed the line 17 lengths clear of Two For Gold.
“It [the National Hunt Chase] is a lovely race for bringing Gold Cup horses on,” Tizzard said. “The first four or five fences he was flat out, but when the pace steadied a bit he was right bang on the steel and like Jonjo [O’Neill Jr, his jockey] said, he wanted to get on and win this. Before too long he was 10 lengths clear.”
In Ireland, Chris’s Dream ground out a two-and-a-quarter length victory over Shattered Love in desperate conditions in the Grade Two Red Mills Chase, his first start since running away with the Troytown Handicap Chase in November.
Henry de Bromhead’s eight-year-old found just enough when required for Rachael Blackmore to see off the 2018 Marsh (formerly the JLT) Novice Chase winner, and is now top-priced at around 20-1 (from 33-1) for next month’s Gold Cup.
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Exeter postponed due to rainfall
