Sporting Life - Racing | Result, Cheltenham 12-03-2009 Ladbrokes World Hurdle

Thursday March 12 2009

Cheltenham 15:20 - Result

Ladbrokes World Hurdle

£260000 added, 4yo plus, 3m, Class 1, £148226 penalty, 14 ran

Going: Good to Soft

Race Report » Watch Full Race» Watch Closing Stages»

Winning Time: 5m 56.9s

Pos.	Draw	Dist.	Horse	Wt	Jockey	Trainer	Age	SP
1			Big Buck's (FR)	11-10	R Walsh	P F Nicholls	6	6/1
		held up towards rear, hit 7th, headway approaching 2 out, went 2nd after 2 out, challenging when mistake last, led flat, edged left towards finish, stayed on well opened 13/2 touched 7/1 £35000-£5000 £10000-£1400 (x2) £26000-£4000 Each Way £10000-£1500 Each Way £3000-£500 Each Way
2		1¾	Punchestowns (FR)	11-10	B J Geraghty	N J Henderson	6	10/3
		in touch, not fluent 5th, closed 7th, led approaching 2 out, ridden and pressed last, edged left and headed flat, held when switched right towards finish opened 3/1 touched 7/2 £17500-£5000 Each Way £14000-£4000 (x2) £7000-£2000 £4900-£1400 £3500-£1000 £20000-£6000 £3333-£1000 (x2)
3		17	Powerstation (IRE)	11-10	A J Mcnamara	E O'Connell	9	25/1
		mid-division, hit 5th, headway 9th, hit next, every chance 2 out, outpaced before last, weakened, went 3rd flat opened 33/1 touched 33/1
4		1¾	Kasbah Bliss (FR)	11-10	C Pieux	F Doumen	7	10/11 f
		held up in rear, headway 9th, challenging 2 out, outpaced by front pair when went left and hit last, weakened and lost 3rd flat opened 11/10 touched 11/10 £7500-£6000 £5000-£4000 £3500-£2000 £6000-£5000 (x3) £3600-£3000 £2400-£2000 £1200-£1000 (x2) £11000-£10000 £4400-£4000 £2200-£2000 (x2) £1650-£1500 (x2) £1000-£1100 (x3) £20000-£20000 £10000-£10000 (x2) £8000-£8000 £5000-£5000 (x11) £3500-£3500 £2500-£2500 £2000-£2000 (x8) £1500-£1500 £1380-£1380 £1200-£1200 £1000-£1000 (x20) £10000-£11000 £5000-£5500 £2000-£2200
5		5	Mighty Man (FR)	11-10	S Thomas	H D Daly	9	28/1
		chased leaders, squeezed along after 3 out, weakened well before last opened 25/1 touched 28/1
6		hd	Whatuthink (IRE)	11-10	D N Russell	O McKiernan	7	100/1
		led, not fluent 2nd, hit 8th, 9th and 10th, headed 3 out, still well there 2 out, weakened approaching last opened 100/1 touched 100/1
7		4½	Mobaasher (USA)	11-10	Christian Williams	P F Nicholls	6	33/1
		held up towards rear, headway approaching 3 out, weakened before 2 out opened 25/1 touched 40/1
8		2¼	Blazing Bailey	11-10	R Thornton	A King	7	28/1
		in touch, miskes 5th and 8th, outpaced 9th, struggling from 3 out opened 25/1 touched 28/1
9		1¾	Fair Along (GER)	11-10	R Johnson	P J Hobbs	7	14/1
		chased leaders, ridden after 3 out, weakened well before last opened 12/1 touched 14/1 £16000-£1000 Each Way
10		4½	No Refuge (IRE)	11-10	D F O'Regan	J Howard Johnson	9	100/1
		in rear, stepped at 1st, losing touch 9th opened 100/1 touched 100/1
11		5	Pettifour (IRE)	11-10	P J Brennan	N A Twiston-Davies	7	66/1
		mid-division, not fluent 5th, headway after 9th, weakened approaching 2 out opened 66/1 touched 66/1
12		16	Tazbar (IRE)	11-10	J Reveley	K G Reveley	7	33/1
		held up in rear, pushed along and last 6th, losing touch from 9th opened 33/1 touched 40/1
13		3¼	Shakervilz (FR)	11-10	P Townend	W P Mullins	6	50/1
		chased leader, led 3 out, ridden and headed before 2 out, weakened after 2 out opened 50/1 touched 50/1
14		27	Afsoun (FR)	11-10	D Elsworth	N J Henderson	7	100/1
		mid-division, lost place 8th, well behind 3 out, tailed off opened 100/1 touched 100/1

Tote Win: Ł6.70 Tote Place: Ł1.80,Ł1.60,Ł3.90
Straight Forecast: Ł25.02 Tricast: Ł471.59 Exacta: Ł19.10 Trifecta: Ł717.40
Swingers:1&2:Ł2.40, 2&3:Ł11.80, 1&3:Ł13.50

Jackpot: £60,012.58 carried forward to Cheltenham, 13th Mar Placepot: £537.00 Pool:£863,109.00 1,173.15 winning tickets Quadpot: £41.40 Pool:£35,912.47 640.50 winning tickets

Analysis: The Cleeve Hurdle one-two fought out the finish again and Paul Nicholls' BIG BUCK'S upheld trials day form with Nicky Henderson's Punchestowns. Held up by Ruby Walsh as 100-1 outsider Whatuthink took them along, Big Buck's was produced quietly by the Irishman who made his move two out. Barry Geraghty kicked on Punchestowns just before Walsh made his move, with both riders aware of odds-on favourite Kasbah Bliss who was in their slipstream. The French horse found nothing, though, and was caught for third on the run-in by Powerstation. Francois Doumen was gracious in defeat, and offered no excuses, but his horse didn't look at his best here and could be better than he showed. Whether it was his true running or not, the first two were in a different league today and delivered a memorable renewal of the World Hurdle. Big Buck's looked to have handed the initiative to his rival when hitting the final flight, but regained his rhythm quickly and asserted inside the final furlong. Nicholls' decision to send him hurdling was certainly vindicated and he might not tackle a fence next season now as he could come back to defend his crown. Punchestowns will go novice chasing and he could be a fearsome force in that division.