Aston Martini upstages Il Est Francais for Henderson at Compiegne

There was a poignant victory for Nicky Henderson at Compiegne, as Aston Martinitook advantage of a misfiring Il Est Francais to register an emphatic success in the Prix du Cher.

It is the second time Henderson has won the Listed event after Fixe Le Kap’s triumph in 2017 and the Seven Barrows handler was delighted to visit a track he once rode at some 50 years ago to celebrate a horse bred and then leased to the syndicate named in honour of the late Henry Ponsonby by the late Richard Aston of Goldford Stud.

Henderson said: “That was fantastic, a great performance, and we only came here to achieve one thing and that was to get some black type, as there were no more Listed races in Britain and we’ve had it in mind for some time.

“It nearly scuppered our plan to see Il Est Francais in the race, but she was amazing – it’s a beautiful track and it was beautiful ground with so much grass on it, it’s a great place.

“I was talking to Noel George and he said it wasn’t just Il Est Francais in there and there was also some other very good horses in there.

“It’s actually the second time we’ve won that race and we won it with Fixe Le Kap in 2017 and I rode here 50 years ago in a cross-country, which is a bit scary.”

Aston Martini jumped excellently throughout in the hands of Felix de Giles, moving stylishly into contention in the home straight and soon alongside Il Est Francais, who folded tamely before the last, allowing the six-year-old mare to stride clear for a thoroughly impressive 10-length success.

Henderson revelled in having old ally De Giles back riding for him again on a big occasion, while also praising the huge team effort that was required to overcome some obstacles en route to cross-channel glory.

“It was great to have Felix on board again and he’s a good old friend – he actually started with us the same year as Nico (de Boinville),” continued Henderson.

“There was a group of them – Nico, David Bass, Andrew Tinkler, Jerry McGrath, Richard Killoran – they were all here the same years and it was lovely to have Felix ride for me again – he’s even learnt to speak French properly now, which is the whole point of having him as then I don’t have to try.

“We schooled her over fences to get her ready for these hurdles as they really are considerably more substantial than ours and she’s jumped beautifully the whole way.

“We’ve had to be here rather a long time as there was a strike on Monday and all sorts of complications and it was a lot of hard work. I have to praise my girls in the office as well as it has been a nightmare and we almost ditched it, but thankfully we didn’t.”