Sir Alex Ferguson and Harry Redknapp were in opposing dugouts 44 times during their long careers in football management and they were trading blows again in a different sporting arena on Friday as three of the seven contests were won by horses in their racing colours.
The bare scoreline at the end of the day was 2-1 in Ferguson’s favour, thanks to a short-priced double in the opening two races with Regent’s Stroll and Kalif Du Berlais. It was Redknapp, though, who picked up the most valuable prize of the day, earning nearly £43,000 thanks to an impressive success by The Jukebox Man in the feature event, the Grade Two John Francome Novice Chase, and the six-year-old could now step up to Grade One company at Kempton on Boxing Day.
All three horses, in fact, have big futures to anticipate, including potential appearances at Cheltenham’s festival meeting in March where both Ferguson and Redknapp enjoyed a winner on the same card earlier this year.
Neither ex-manager was at Newbury to enjoy their success, although Ben Pauling, the trainer of The Jukebox Man, reported that Redknapp, who rarely misses a runner these days, was “gutted” to be elsewhere.
His latest chasing prospect is potentially a match for anything to have carried his colours over fences in a 35-year career as an owner, showing considerable talent to take a Grade Two on his chase debut while also offering plenty of scope for improvement.
“There’s loads to work on,” Pauling said. “He was a bit close to the first few, he was almost in hurdling mode, and then he became stupidly big and bold, and Benny [Jones, his jockey] did very well to rein him in and pop him down the back. That’s his first run of the season and he’s going to improve a ton, all mine do, so it could be quite exciting from here on.”
Friday’s race includes three future winners of the Cheltenham Gold Cup – Denman, Bobs Worth and Coneygree – on its roll of honour since 2006, while the maiden hurdle won by Regent’s Stroll has been landed by two subsequent Grade One-winning chasers – Lostintranslation and Jonbon – since 2017.
Regent’s Stroll is similarly blessed with potential, having now won all three of his starts under Rules. His victory, in which he overcame a significant blunder at the second-last flight, has also made a small, initial repayment on the £660,000 paid by a syndicate including Ferguson and his longtime friend and co-owner Ged Mason to keep Regent’s Stroll in Paul Nicholls’s yard after his former owner, Chris Giles, sold up his racing interests in July.
He was quoted at around 14-1 for the Turners Novice Hurdle at Cheltenham on 12 March after this victory, while Kalif Du Berlais, who bounced back from a heavy fall at Carlisle this month to get off the mark over fences, is 50-1 for the Arkle Trophy Novice Chase the previous afternoon.
Doncaster 11.42 No Questions Asked 12.17 I’m Ravenous 12.52 Dameofthecotswolds 1.27 Yellow Car 2.02 Slugger 2.37 Red Nika 3.12 Latopix
Newcastle 11.53 Lavender Hill Mob 12.28 Step Above 1.03 Kepler’s Law 1.35 Breakdance Kid 2.10 Mystical Power 2.45 Jeune Prince 3.20 Bowtogreatness (nap)
Newbury 12.07 Listentoyourheart 12.40 Fidelio Vallis 1.15 The New Lion 1.54 Inthewaterside 2.25 Aston Martini 3.00 Broadway Boy (nb) 3.35 Issar d’Airy
“They’ve invested between them all and they’ve got some beautiful horses for the future,” Nicholls said after Kalif Du Berlais’s success.
“They have got a right team of horses now, and it’s good having five or six of them together. When these horses make this sort of money, we can afford to buy them, and between six of them, it’s not as bad as trying to get one to buy it. It’s good to have them on board and they love it.”
Broadway’s name set to be in lights
The Coral Gold Cup has undoubtedly lost some of its longer-term significance in recent years but, as a standalone puzzle that demands to be solved, it is hard to fault the latest renewal at Newbury on Saturday and harder still to rule out any of the 14 runners with complete confidence.
In addition to the familiar mix of second-season chasers and experienced handicappers, three runners from Ireland and a classy contender from France – General En Chef, third home in the French equivalent of the Cheltenham Gold Cup in May – also demand close consideration.
Even big outsiders in the betting such as Sam Brown and Remastered have snippets of form that give them an each-way chance, but the percentage call may still be to side with a young second-season chaser with proven stamina – the winning profile in seven of the past 10 runnings of this race.
Colonel Harry, a potential favourite to give Jamie Snowden a second successive win, has yet to race beyond two and a half miles over fences, which leaves Senior Chief and Broadway Boy as the most plausible younger candidates, and while Senior Chief was a dozen lengths in front of Broadway Boy last time, a 10lb turnaround in the weights should bring them much closer together today.
This is also a race and a track that can favour front-runners, which tips the balance towards the six-year-old Broadway Boy (3.00) at around 7-1 to give Nigel Twiston-Davies only his second win in this historic handicap chase.
Newbury 1.54: The lightly raced Inthewaterside still has plenty of scope for progress over timber.
Newcastle 2.10: A fascinating clash between two of last season’s best novices, with slight preference for Mystical Power as the strength of his winning form at Punchestown in April has perhaps been under-appreciated.
Newbury 2.25: A jink at the final flight proved costly for Aston Martini at Bangor last time but he remains on a handy mark and can give Nicky Henderson a fourth win in this race in six years.
Newcastle 3.20: It all seemed to be coming together for Bowtogreatness at Newbury last time and, having finally broken his duck over fences, a 4lb higher mark here looks very attractive on the balance of his chasing form.
Newbury 3.35: Issar d’Airy was 2lb out of the handicap when finishing second at Ascot last time and has clear prospects of going one better off his correct mark here.
