Double delight for Richard Johnson on return from illness

Richard Johnson was successful on both his rides as he made a winning return to action at Fontwell after recovering from flu.The champion jockey, absent since Saturday, enjoyed a double on odds-on favourites Kayf Adventure and Casper King, both trained by Philip Hobbs.The first was a satisfying victory for Johnson as he also bred the son of Kayf Tara.The 1-2 shot led before the fourth-last flight and drew away to take the Porto Racing Specialist Horse Racing Saddlery Novices' Hurdle by 14 lengths from Flemcara."He won his bumper really well a couple of years ago and he had niggly problems last year. He's big, so a bit of time wouldn't have done him any harm," Johnson told At The Races."Hopefully he's come on a bit for his run back at Exeter and he did it pretty well."He travelled super through the second half of the race, but then I wasn't sure what he would find but he picked up nicely from two out."Hopefully he's a nice one for the future. I've got his half-sister to breed from, so there's a few more in the pipeline."Johnson followed up on Casper King (4-7 favourite), who saw off main market rival Not Another Muddle by five lengths in the European Breeders' Fund 'National Hunt' Novices' Hurdle."It was great to get him off the mark last time as he'd had a few seconds and you were starting to think was there anything untoward, but he'd just jumped into some quite nice horses," said Johnson."Now he's won two novice hurdles, I'm sure the EBF Final is an option, we'll see what Philip thinks."Hopefully he's a staying chaser in time."