Warwick report: Excelero delights Jane Williams

Excelero opened his account over fences with a dominant front-running victory in the opening race at Warwick on Wednesday.

The Jane Williams-trained five-year-old won three times over hurdles and also bumped into the likes of Salver and Sir Gino before having his attentions switched to the larger obstacles this season.

He was last of four finishers behind recent Cheltenham winner Wade Out on his chasing debut and seasonal reappearance at Worcester last month, but raised his game significantly in the Warwick Supports Our Farmers Novices’ Limited Handicap Chase, jumping accurately throughout in the hands of Ciaran Gethings and passing the post with nine and a half lengths in hand as a 7-4 shot.

Mister Cessna filled the runner-up spot, with 13-8 favourite Spirits Bay a tailed-off last of three following several mistakes.

Williams said: “He’s a funny horse because he’s probably somewhere between being a two-miler and a two-and-a-half-mile horse, so trying to find the right trip and conditions for him is difficult, but that was really impressive today over two.

“He needed to step up to a different level today, so I’m over the moon with that. He just wants to do his own thing really, so I’m really impressed.

“Warwick is a proper jumping test and he seemed to find it all very straightforward. I’m actually in France, but from where I was watching on television, it looked like he wanted to go round again.

“He’s still fairly young and enjoys his racing and I think what he really wants is soft ground – that makes a massive difference to him. I think if we can get proper soft ground he can run a few times in the depths of winter and then when it dries out that will be him finished for the season.”

Dan and Harry Skelton combined for a double, with 11-10 favourite Chuggy taking his record over fences to two from two in the Hazelton Mountford Insurance Handicap Chase before his stablemate Kykorock (7-1) got his act together to land the PricedUp Daily Sports Boosts Handicap Chase.

Elliott England was seen to good effect aboard Ben Pauling’s Onewaywest (11-4 joint-favourite) in the pricedup.bet Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle, while Pauling was narrowly denied a double in the following PricedUp Novices’ Hurdle, with his 5-6 favourite Dig Deep touched off by Sogna In Grande (15-2), trained in partnership by Kim Bailey and Mat Nichols and ridden by Tom Bellamy.

The other winner on the card was Olly Murphy’s Gwennie May Star (100-30), who claimed top honours in the Denis O’Connell Memorial Handicap Hurdle under Lewis Saunders, beating Getaway Theatre by a nose.