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Knight Salute tees up for Triumph Hurdle with Adonis win at Kempton

Updated / Saturday, 26 Feb 2022 17:55
Knight Salute under Paddy Brennan clears the last at Kempton
Knight Salute under Paddy Brennan clears the last at Kempton

Knight Salute will head to the Triumph Hurdle unbeaten over obstacles after landing the Coral Adonis Juvenile Hurdle in good style at Kempton Park.

The Milton Harris-trained four-year-old has been asked a few questions in his short career, but has answered every one of them and on this occasion he had to fend off the challenge of Teddy Blue, who held every chance until blundering through the last.

Paddy Brennan's mount travelled smoothly throughout, but increased the pace early in the straight, with his rider admitting: "I knew it was going to be cat and mouse and I was keen to be the cat!"

Knight Salute, who gained his fifth successive success for the Four Candles Partnership, scored by three and a quarter lengths.

Brennan added: "For the first two furlongs I was going as fast as I could comfortably go and that was really going to play in my favour and with respect to that, I probably got to the front a bit too soon.

"He is probably the quickest horse I have ever ridden over hurdles. He is so accurate. He is small, but he knows his limits. He is very, very quick from one side of a hurdle to the other.

"He stays very well and you will get there a bit soon on him, but I know he stays, so I’m keen to keep the race going and Cheltenham suits him."

The winning trainer admitted Knight Salute’s build-up to the two-mile Grade Two contest had not been smooth sailing.

He explained: "Ten days ago, he had a little cough and a splutter and while he scoped OK, he came back on Tuesday and worked like a demon. That put me off a bit, because he doesn’t do that.

"He is a good horse. I’m sure the Irish horses are good horses, but every single one of the first three in the betting has been beaten – we have not been beat yet. I think he just does enough.

"I think we will be better on better ground. I’m not sure we will beat them, but they will have a race from the last."

Aucunrisque (3-1) made virtually all to graduate to Grade Two glory in the Sky Bet Dovecote Novices' Hurdle.

All eyes were on Shallwehaveonemore after his wide-margin Sandown win and the Gary Moore-trained runner was sent off favourite under the handler’s son, Josh.

He was happy to settle in fourth as Tom Cannon set the gallop on Aucunrisque and Shallwehaveonemore looked to be in the perfect position turning for home.

However, a couple of novicey jumping errors at the final two flights cost the market leader valuable momentum, handing the initiative to Aucunrisque, who proved incredibly game in responding to Cannon’s urgings.

He galloped on strongly after the last to hold the challenge of Shallwehaveonemore by a length, with Galore Desassences finishing a further length and three-quarters adrift.

"It is so lovely," said trainer Chris Gordon. "Brilliant. I am very happy. He has done it the hard way – he has gone up there in front and is a very hardy horse. He has just kept on picking up.

"Sure, we could have gone for a tougher handicap, but he is going to be in tough handicaps all his life probably. We just thought, as a novice, he is tough and that is part of it.

"He’s won a pretty good little handicap hurdle before and a lot of novices haven’t done that and I thought he was a real warrior there today and stuck his head out all the way to the line.

"We just thought we’d keep it simple. I’m a simple person, so we try to keep the horses’ tactics nice and simple, bowl along nice and handy and just make use of a decent gallop."

A record-breaking 12th Coral Pendil Novices' Chase came Paul Nicholls’ way as Pic D’Orhy (3-1) put a disappointing run at Sandown last time behind him.

The seven-year-old had looked good in winning at Ascot in December, though had a few doubters after a lacklustre display in the Scilly Isles Novices’ Chase last month.

Yet Harry Cobden’s mount jumped supremely well and needed to, particularly at the last when challenged by Millers Bank who travelled well and was bereft of the errors that saw him unseat in his previous two races.

Pic D’Orhy, who had a length in hand at the line, will bypass Cheltenham and head straight to Aintree according to Nicholls.

He said: "He needed a good jump at the last and the plan is to go to Aintree for the two-and-a-half-miler with him. A flat track, Aintree will suit him nicely.

"He has been a bit frustrating, but I would say that is his best round of jumping. He obviously wants a flat track and better ground and his breathing has always been a little bit of an issue. He choked at Sandown and stopped to a walk really.

"I wished I had not run him at Sandown afterwards, but we have learned that lesson now. I was just worried that 21 days is a quick turnaround from there but he did it well today and I know I can get him better than today.

"It is a nice month now to Aintree and that will be perfect.

"It would be good to get a Grade One by his name. He has loads of ability and I’m sure one day in the future he will.

"He will be a tighter horse next year and he will have to run in all the better races, but he is learning now and today was the best he jumped – he didn’t make a mistake, I don’t think. When Harry asked for a big one at the last, it was there.

"He could end up getting three miles in time, but at the moment, I don’t think he needs to. He is a proper horse.

"There are plenty of races for him and he has plenty of speed, so I’m not convinced at the moment he wants to be going three miles."

Much attention in recent weeks has surrounded the form of the Ditcheat team, but Nicholls added: "The questions about the form have just been making me laugh. But you just keep your head down and keep doing what you do.

"There has obviously been some sort of issue and I have a suspicion that they took a little bit longer to get over the flu jabs this year for whatever reason, I don’t know.

"And we had a tiny little mineral imbalance in the hay – and I mean minor – which we corrected.

"All the horses look great now. There are a lot of yards having a few issues at this time of year but when, of course, you have been flying over Christmas, and then go quiet, everyone jumps on that."

Cap Du Nord (13-2) led home a one-two for Christian Williams in the Coral Trophy Handicap Chase, capping an incredible half-hour for the trainer.

The Glamorgan handler had just finished celebrating the victory of Win My Wings in the Eider Chase at Newcastle moments before the field set out for the Kempton Grade Three.

Partnered by 3lb claimer Jack Tudor, Cap Du Nord was settled in behind through the early stages as The Big Breakaway was kicked into an early lead alongside Enrilo, with joint-favourite Phoenix Way trailing in the early stages before falling at the third fence.

The Big Breakaway got a couple of early reminders heading out for the second circuit of the three-mile affair and he soon started to toil, leaving Enrilo to lead the field into the straight.

Kitty's Light, one of three for Williams along with the other joint-favourite Five Star Getaway, was noted making stealthy progress from the back of the field, but Cap Du Nord had first run on his stablemate, grabbing the lead with two to jump.

He accelerated away from Enrilo on the run to the final obstacle and Tudor got a fine leap out of him to seal victory, with Kitty’s Light keeping on for second and Sam Thomas’ Our Power back in third, making it a clean sweep for Wales.

Williams said: "We thought he would run well. Horses come into themselves. Kitty’s Light struggled in the winter and has just come into himself, Win My Wings, who won earlier on, it was hard to get her right in the heart of the winter.

"When you have good staff and good owners at home, they will know that there is a certain time in the season where they will come right and we usually finish the season well.

"I’m not sure if it is where we train from, maybe there is a little bit of a dip for a month or two in the winter, certain horses go a bit quiet, but they have come good in the end and we have seen the proof in the last two weeks that the horses are starting to come right.

"This one (Cap Du Nord) deserves a race like this – no-one can take that away from him. The owner wanted to run him at Carlisle on Monday to run in a qualifier for Haydock, but we managed to put him off.

"To get in a race like this off 127 was a little bit lucky, but Coral sponsored the race and we wanted to support it with the prize money they put on – that’s the reason why we have run three in the race, to support the sponsors.

"I don’t get too involved with instructions to jockeys. The reason we employ Jack is we know what he is capable of doing. We just let him go out there and do his thing – we saw two years ago how good he is (when winning the Welsh National on Potters Corner).

"Days like today, he is cool and rides far and above his age, and I think he has one or two winners left on his claim now, but he is top, top class.

"Jack’s favourite horse is Kitty’s Light, and he loves Kitty’s Light, but we had to sway him towards this one today, as we knew Kitty was in good form, and Jack texted me a picture of an aeroplane last week when Kitty did a piece of work, but we knew this track was Cap Du Nord’s track and probably not Kitty’s track, but Kitty ran a great race as well.

"Five Star Getaway (eighth) has had a few hard races this year and the ground may have been a bit quick for him."

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