Sporting Life - Racing | Result, Cheltenham 10-03-2009 Smurfit Kappa Champion Hurdle

Tuesday March 10 2009

Cheltenham 15:20 - Result

Smurfit Kappa Champion Hurdle

£370000 added, 4yo plus, 2m 110y, Class 1, £210937 penalty, 23 ran

Going: Good to Soft, Soft in places

Race Report » Watch Full Race» Watch Closing Stages»

Winning Time: 4m 00.8s

Pos.	Draw	Dist.	Horse	Wt	Jockey	Trainer	Age	SP
1			Punjabi	11-10	B J Geraghty	N J Henderson	6	22/1
		mid-division, headway approaching 5th, went close 2nd after 3 out, narrow lead last, driven out, held on gamely opened 25/1 touched 25/1 £11000-£500 Each Way
2		nk	Celestial Halo (IRE)	11-10	R Walsh	P F Nicholls	5	17/2
		always prominent, narrow lead before 3 out, ridden and pressed after 2 out, headed last, ran on towards finish opened 17/2 touched 9/1 £45000-£5000 Each Way £9000-£1000 £4500-£500 Each Way
3		hd	Binocular (FR)	11-10	A P McCoy	N J Henderson	5	6/4 f
		mid-division, headway approaching 5th, chased leading pair before 2 out, not fluent last, ridden flat, ran on towards finish opened 6/4 touched 6/4 £8750-£5000 £6500-£4000 (x3) £3250-£2000 (x4) £60000-£40000 £15000-£10000 £12000-£8000 £7500-£5000 (x3) £6000-£4000 (x8) £3000-£2000 (x14) £1600-£1000 (x6) £13750-£10000 £6875-£5000 £5500-£4000
4		2¼	Crack Away Jack	11-10	N Fehily	Miss E C Lavelle	5	16/1
		held up in rear, steady progress into mid-division 3 out, not much room after 2 out, went 4th last, closed on leaders flat, no impression near finish opened 16/1 touched 18/1
5		2¾	Muirhead (IRE)	11-10	D J Condon	N Meade	6	33/1
		mid-division, headway 5th, jumped left 2 out, not fluent last, kept on flat opened 33/1 touched 33/1
6		nk	Katchit (IRE)	11-10	R Thornton	A King	6	12/1
		chased leaders, pushed along 4th, outpaced after next, stayed on approaching last, drifted left and kept on flat opened 14/1 touched 14/1 £42000-£3000 Each Way £7000-£500 Each Way
7		8	Snap Tie (IRE)	11-10	R Johnson	P J Hobbs	7	40/1
		held up towards rear, headway 5th, beaten when not much room after 2 out, weakened approaching last opened 40/1 touched 40/1
8		3¼	Jered (IRE)	11-10	D J Casey	N Meade	7	33/1
		towards rear, mistakes 1st and 2nd, slightly hampered 3 out, ran on flat, never in contention opened 28/1 touched 33/1
9		½	Hardy Eustace (IRE)	11-10	P W Flood	D T Hughes	12	100/1
		prominent, led after 5th, narrowly headed before 3 out, bumped 2 out, weakening when hampered soon after opened 100/1 touched 100/1
10		3	Won In The Dark (IRE)	11-10	D N Russell	Miss S Harty	5	33/1
		mid-division, progress on inside after 5th, weakened approaching 2 out opened 33/1 touched 33/1
11		¾	Osana (FR)	11-10	A J Mcnamara	D Pipe	7	13/2
		led, headed after 5th, soon driven, weakened after 3 out opened 10/1 touched 10/1 £10000-£1000 £40000-£5000 £4000-£500
12		3¼	Whiteoak (IRE)	11-3	J M Maguire	D McCain Jnr	6	16/1
		held up towards rear, mistakes 2nd and 3rd, ridden and some headway before 3 out, no further progress opened 16/1 touched 16/1
13		3¼	Blue Bajan (IRE)	11-10	G Lee	Andrew Turnell	7	80/1
		sweating, held up in rear, not fluent 1st, mistake 3rd, struggling approaching 3 out, never dangerous opened 80/1 touched 80/1
14		5	Sentry Duty (FR)	11-10	A Tinkler	N J Henderson	7	33/1
		mid-division, hit 1st, ridden and struggling when hampered 3 out opened 28/1 touched 33/1
15		14	Sublimity (FR)	11-10	P A Carberry	Robert Hennessy	9	20/1
		sweating, held up towards rear, headway approaching 3 out, no further progress opened 20/1 touched 20/1
16		7	Alph	11-10	C Bolger	R A Teal	12	250/1
		taken to post early, mid-division, ridden 5th, soon struggling opened 250/1 touched 300/1
17		¾	Harchibald (FR)	11-10	P Carberry	N Meade	10	33/1
		always behind opened 28/1 touched 33/1 £33000-£1000
18		3¼	Brave Inca (IRE)	11-10	D Elsworth	C A Murphy	11	25/1
		chased leaders to 4th, well behind 3 out opened 28/1 touched 28/1 £33000-£1000 Each Way
19		2½	Ashkazar (FR)	11-10	T J Murphy	D Pipe	5	14/1
		chased leaders, not fluent 3rd, pushed along next, weakened 5th, well behind when went sharply left 2 out opened 16/1 touched 16/1 £22000-£2000 Each Way
20		2¾	Ebaziyan (IRE)	11-10	P Townend	W P Mullins	8	50/1
		towards rear, mistakes 1st and 2nd, struggling when hampered 3 out opened 50/1 touched 50/1 £16500-£500
21		10	River Liane (FR)	11-10	N P Madden	T Cooper	5	125/1
		mid-division, ridden and behind 4th opened 100/1 touched 125/1
PU			Cybergenic (FR)	11-10	K Mercer	Paul Murphy	11	250/1
		chased leaders on outside until before 4th, tailed off when pulled up before 3 out opened 250/1 touched 250/1
F			Othermix (FR)	11-10	P J Brennan	T R George	5	100/1
		tracked leaders, raced keenly, pushed along before 5th, weakening when fell 3 out opened 100/1 touched 100/1

Non-Runners
NR			Sizing Europe (IRE)	11-10	D F O'Regan	H De Bromhead	7

Tote Win: Ł25.80 Tote Place: Ł6.20,Ł3.00,Ł1.60
Straight Forecast: Ł185.28 Tricast: Ł464.65 Exacta: Ł247.90 Trifecta: Ł349.30
Swingers:1&2:Ł20.10, 2&3:Ł3.10, 1&3:Ł6.30

Jackpot: £36,528.20 carried forward to Cheltenham, 11th Mar Placepot: £122.50 Pool:£967,922.25 5,766.52 winning tickets Quadpot: £4.40 Pool:£42,321.22 7,033.06 winning tickets

Analysis: A thrilling renewal with the first-time blinkered Osana and Hardy Eustace setting a sizzling pace. Celestial Halo stayed on their heels and took over turning into the straight with Binocular absolutely cantering. But it was PUNJABI who stayed on best up the hill and held Celestial Halo on the line with Binocular flattering to deceive. Crack Away Jack came from the clouds to snatch fourth.