‘EMBARRASSED’ Paul Nicholls was left eating his words after saying his 50-1 horse had absolutely no chance of winning.
The Ditcheat trainer was talking to Betfair’s Barry Orr about last Sunday’s Royal Ascot Racing Club Juvenile Handicap Hurdle at the Berkshire track.
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@PFNicholls just spoke to @BetfairBarry on:
A Sunday double at Ascot
Blueking D'oroux's unexpected winner
Attention turns to Aintree now pic.twitter.com/Gzm47Huzki
— Betfair Racing (@BetfairRacing) April 3, 2023
Nicholls said Blueking D’Oroux, left, had absolutely no chance at 50-1 – only for the horse to romp home at Ascot
Nicholls was absolutely certain Blueking D’Oroux had ‘no chance’ of winning the 2m contest worth just over £20,000 to the victor.
And he said stablemate Afadil, ridden by the yard’s No1 jockey Harry Cobden, was a much safer bet.
The odds looked to reflect that, with Blueking D’Oroux sent off a whopping 50-1 for the Class 2 contest.
Afadil, by contrast, jumped off 15-2 behind 5-1 fav Arclight.
Speaking before the race, Nicholls said: “Blueking D’Oroux, top weight, how he’s got a mark of 127 is totally and utterly beyond me.
“He wouldn’t be within a street of Afadil but the handicapper has given him 127 even though he’s run ordinary for us.
“Basically, he’s got no chance off that mark.
“He needs to come to a more realistic mark and get some experience into him for next season.”
Racing can make a fool out of anyone though and Nicholls was forced to eat his words and 5lb claimer Angus Cheleda bounded up the hill on the four-year-old gelding.
Amazingly, he finished two lengths ahead of Afadil – completing a bonkers 1-2 for Nicholls.
Speaking to Betfair on Monday, a sheepish Nicholls admitted: “Talk about embarrassing after my update on Friday when I said Blueking D’Oroux had no chance of beating Afadil!
“It just shows what a wind op can do for a horse.
“He galloped beautifully, was strong to the line and we’re very pleased with that.
“It just shows as much as we think we know you can never be sure – or how much a wind op can bring on a horse!”
Winning owner Johnny de la Hey said: “To be honest, we thought he was badly handicapped off 127 but I didn’t think he was a 50-1 shot. That was quite crazy.”
