Wise head triumphs as Leighton Aspell strikes late in Veterans at Sandown

Before Leighton Aspell turned up at Sandown on Saturday he had not partnered a winner for 35 days.

The dual Grand National-winning jockey’s barren sequence extended to 56 rides, which paled in comparison to his mount Buywise who he rode to a dominant victory in the 32Red Veterans’ Handicap Chase.

Buywise, who has surely let down nearly every punter down the years, had not entered the winner’s enclosure since going off at 1-7 in a novice hurdle at Ffos Las in February 2015.

There was the promising run when fourth in the Brown Advisory and Merribelle Stable Plate three Festivals ago. He was second to Annacotty in the following season’s Paddy Power Gold Cup and then fourth in the Caspian Caviar Gold Cup at Prestbury Park a month later. He followed that up with a podium placing in the SkyBet Chase at Doncaster two years ago and then ran a huge race when third in the BetVictor Gold Cup at Cheltenham. Surely there cannot be a more frustrating horse in training?

He was sent off at 12-1 and yet here he was confounding expectations in a different manner by jumping accurately and showing a will to win that outlasted that of the ageing Pete The Feat, who went down all guns blazing in defence of his crown by two lengths.

Aspell had gone through the whole of the busy Christmas period and New Year without a sniff of a win, having to pull-up four mounts with one fall and an unseat. This is a man who 10 years ago quit the saddle yet came back for more and it was easy to see afterwards, when spattered with the cold mud of Esher, his determination and boundless hope shining through.

“I’m 41. It is not the first time I have gone a month without a winner and it won’t be the last,” he said.

“If I wasn’t getting rides I’d be more concerned but as long as you’re getting rides then the winners are only around the corner.”

On a day when two 13-year-olds in Raz De Maree and Alfie Spinner battled out the finish to the rescheduled Coral Welsh National and Pressurize, a year younger, landed the spoils in Wales an hour and half later, it was only fair that the veterans enjoyed their time in the limelight. This is the third year of the Veterans Series and with £100,000 in total prize money it has kept most of the field in training.

Buywise has always been held up and it was the plan to keep him interested for much of the 3m37y contest by getting cover.

By the time the field had reached the Pond Fence, Buywise was coolly cruising in fifth, without looking particularly threatening, and over the second last he was at least six lengths off 14-year-old leader Pete The Feat.

Aspell encouraged his mount to put in a huge leap over the last and within a few strides the youngest horse in the field was within touching distance of the oldest. He steered Buywise up the inside of Pete The Feat and Jonathan Burke and from there the result was a formality. Even for Buywise.

“That is his running style and has been over the years,” Aspell added.

Buywise, who was born on May 19, 2007, was the youngest horse in the field (Racingfotos)

“He’s just made mistakes at the wrong time and run on to take prize money. You’ve got to bide your time and see what you can pick up.

“The pace was strong and then the horses began to pay the penalty. This is a veterans’ race and some of them don’t have the same energy in their legs anymore. He finished really well and he really surprised me.

“He came here after one run so he was relatively fresh and well trained for today. There was prize money for eighth. Be happy for eighth and anything you achieve above that is a bonus.”

Trainer Evan Williams was at Chepstow, where he saddled four runners without success, but watched the race on television and was impressed at the performance of both horse and jockey.

"That was very emotional to watch,” he said.

"I can't speak highly enough of the ride Leighton gave him. They went very hard up front, but you don't win two Grand Nationals like he has without being a supreme horseman. "He stayed on really strongly up the hill and it was great to see him finally do it. It was just a very good ride - a brilliant ride from a brilliant horseman.”

Buywise finished 12th in the 2016 Grand National and was fourth in the Ultima Handicap Chase in March but is likely to skip both of the big spring festivals to return here at the end of April.

"I wouldn't have thought we'd go for the National this season, or the Cheltenham Festival,” Williams added. “We'll look after him and I think we'll keep him to the park tracks, look for some nice handicaps.

"The race I think will really suit him is the old Whitbread (Bet365 Gold Cup) back at Sandown - I think that will be his big aim now."

Pete The Feat, by far the oldest of the 14 runners, is just two years younger than James Bowen, the winning rider of the Welsh National, and over double the age of Summerville Boy, the surprise winner of the Grade One 32Red Tolworth Hurdle. And he could well return here next year, if emotion has not got the better of Charlie Longsdon.

“He has gone out on his shield – he has run an absolute blinder,” the trainer said. “What an old boy he is, but that is the way it goes.

“He would have retired ages ago if it wasn’t for this. He loves life. What do we do now? Good question. Let’s get him qualified and go again.

“Everyone loves Pete.”

And, possibly, Buywise now, too.