SCEAU Royal turned on the afterburners to see off Champ in the Game Spirit Chase at Newbury.
So used to playing second fiddle to Altior for much of his career, Alan King’s horse finally got one over that star’s trainer Nicky Henderson.
But both camps had reason to cheer with Sceau Royal landing a sixth Graded race of his career and Champ teeing himself up nicely for a shot at the Cheltenham Gold Cup.
Sceau Royal has options of the Champion Chase and Hurdle at the Festival, with King happy to keep both routes open.
He smiled: “We’re delighted, we’ve been riding him more aggressively and it’s paid off.
“The ground is key to him, and always has been, that’ll determine where we go next. He’s in both the races at Cheltenham and we don’t need to decide yet.”
Sceau Royal beats Champ to win the Betfair Game Spirit Chase!
Watch LIVE:
@ITV4https://t.co/HGM9TtXkhB#ITVRacing pic.twitter.com/nHv3E3rt8H
— ITV Racing (@itvracing) February 21, 2021
Champ was cut into as short as 6-1 for the Gold Cup and Henderson was thrilled with his comeback after close to a year off.
He said: “He’s enjoyed himself around there. The best thing about that was his jumping, he was deadly.
“That will have done him the world of good. He’s certainly not slow either, he’s shown lots of speed. People will probably say we should have put him in the Champion Chase!
“It was better to give him a kinder race today than go three miles, but on the evidence of the RSA last year, we know he stays. We’re looking forward to Cheltenham.”
Jonjo O’Neill was over the moon as his year long plan came up trumps in the Betfair Hurdle with Soaring Glory.
Son Jonjo Jr did the steering and helped connections pocket the £70,000 first prize.
O’Neill Sr said: “That race has been the plan for a long old time and for the boy to be on board is special.”
The winner was cut into 10-1 for the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle by the sponsors.
In the Denman Chase trainer Paul Nicholls enjoyed a one-two finish but not in the expected order.
Bryony Frost and 14-1 shot Secret Investor outgunned Clan Des Obeaux up the straight and both will head to Aintree next.
Nicholls said: “I wasn’t expecting that! They’ll probably both go to Aintree for the Bowl and we’ll put some cheekpieces on Clan Des Obeaux. He just wasn’t seeing out his race.”
In Ireland, Gordon Elliott maintained all ‘roads lead to Cheltenham’ with Tiger Roll despite his star tamely tailing off into last in the Boyne Hurdle at Navan.
FREE BETS GET OVER £2,000 IN SIGN UP OFFERS HERE
Commercial content notice: Taking one of the bookmaker offers featured in this article may result in a payment to SE. 18+. T&Cs apply. Begambleaware.org
Remember to gamble responsibly
A responsible gambler is someone who:
- Establishes time and monetary limits before playing
- Only gambles with money they can afford to lose
- Never chase their losses
- Doesn’t gamble if they’re upset, angry or depressed
- Gamcare – www.gamcare.org.uk
- Gamble Aware – www.begambleaware.org
