Sandown report: Langer Dan delivers for Skelton team in Imperial Cup

Langer Dan kicked off what could be an excellent few days for Dan and Harry Skelton when cruising to victory in the Paddy Power Imperial Cup at Sandown.

Once again Dan Skelton proved he is among the best at targeting the big prizes, while his brother Harry is putting up a stern challenge in his quest to be champion jockey.

With the likes of Roksana, Third Time Lucki, Shan Blue, Nube Negra and Allmankind heading to Cheltenham next week, the Skeltons could have the week of their lives and now Langer Dan is as low as 8-1 with Paddy Power for the Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle – the closing event of the Festival.

His supporters in this race had a brief moment of worry coming out of the back straight when Harry Skelton was short of room and got shuffled to the back of the pack.

However, in a matter of strides he was soon back on the bridle and breezed around the field to challenge Miss Heritage.

By then ante-post favourite Natural History had cried enough and Langer Dan (5-1) breezed to victory by four lengths from Miss Heritage, with Mack The Man back in third.

Dan Skelton said: "I have got so much admiration for this little horse. Colm (Donlon, owner) bought him last year, as he always likes to have a juvenile.

"When he started this year, we thought he'd be one of those horses who would just have a juvenile season. But he is a credit to himself. He's so tough and we took the pressure off him after the autumn and he has thrived.

"He's tiny, but he has a great attitude and he's all heart. He won a Listed race as a juvenile and we bought him as a foal and I said to Colm one day when he was trotting round as a three-year-old, 'I think we should give you your money back, because he hasn't grown'.

"But it is not the size of the horse, it is the size of the heart and he is all heart.

"His chances of getting in the Martin Pipe are nil, but if that nil becomes something, he'll run. And whatever price he is, then he is what he is and his chance will be what it will be. It is hard to turn around quickly at this time of year, but given the prestige, he'll have to have a go if he gets in."

He added: "He is a magic little horse and he deserved it. He is tough competitor. He ran really well in last year's Boodles and actually, funnily enough, that is our first winner over hurdles at Sandown.

"I've never had a winner on the hurdles track. He made a good jump two out after he had been shuffled back, which put him in a good position. He doesn't like to be produced too soon and he needs to do as little as possible in the race. If you put him in the race too soon, he does too much.

"Maybe it is not the strongest Imperial Cup, but you can only beat what is put in front of you.

"I would like to think we will go to Aintree, but he is a horse who thrives with not having pressure. He had all that pressure last year and handled it well, but this year we have taken that pressure off him and he's thrived because of it.

"Let's see what the ground is like. He is only five and hopefully we have plenty of time with this horse.

"If everything is OK, we'll run on Friday with him and we'll consider Aintree. But at the end of the day he has won a big race today, so we will celebrate that."

Beauport, running in the famous Corbiere colours, ploughed through the Sandown mud to win the European Breeders’ Fund Paddy Power ‘National Hunt’ Novices’ Handicap Hurdle Final.

Trained by Nigel Twiston-Davies, the five-year-old was sent off a 28-1 chance and appeared to have a bit to find on the form book.

Out the back in the initial stages, Jordan Nailor made a bold move to take up the running early in the straight and it was an advantage he was not to relinquish.

Fancied runners such as Patroclus and Karl Philippe travelled well until the final three furlongs, when it appeared to become very hard work and their efforts soon petered out.

It was left to Dan Skelton’s Riggs to chase home the winner and while he looked a threat at the last, he ended up getting very tired and Beauport won by 11 lengths. Gladiateur Allen was third and Sam Barton was fourth.

Nailor said: “This is my first winner at Sandown and my first Graded or Listed winner as well.

“I rode him in a bumper at Fontwell where he finished fourth and ran really well, then I rode him over hurdles at Southwell and he was third and again he ran well.

“Then I was on him again at Fontwell when he won and did it really nicely over two miles and six furlongs. Then he ran over two miles and three furlongs at Fontwell when he was third and was staying on – he just got done (for toe) a bit.

“But back over two-four today and that climb in that ground, it really helped him.

“It’s great to get a winner like that. I’m 22 now and it is my best season so far, and that was my 24th winner.

“It means everything, but Carl Llewellyn has a lot to do with this horse and it is down to him and the owners and everyone for keeping me on him on such a big day.”

Kim Bailey appears to hold a strong hand ahead of next week’s Cheltenham Festival and advertised the yard’s good form when Flirtatious Girl landed a cracking renewal of the Listed British Stallion Studs EBF Mares’ Standard Open National Hunt Flat Race.

The going on the Sandown hurdles course was described as soft, heavy in places and was all the more testing after the preceding Imperial Cup.

But Flirtatious Girl, who had been beaten when taking a while to settle at Huntingdon on her second start, looked much more professional this time and sauntered to a two-and-a-quarter-length success over Speech Bubble, with Tweed Skirt a further three and three-quarter lengths back in third.

Bailey said: “She has improved since her last run in December. She is a really good mare and she is so tough.

“I was slightly concerned that the ground might have been too soft for her. She really is unbelievably tough, so to go and do what she did was great. She is not very big, but at the end of the day, she’s done it now.

“She won a Listed race and she’s been placed in Listed company and if she never runs again, she’s worth her weight.

“She is very different to my other winner of the race, Molly’s A Diva (2013), who was a big tank of a horse and as slow as a hearse. This little, tiny thing in comparison is quite quick, but both loved soft ground and hopefully she will go on to better things.”

Bailey’s Festival team is headed by First Flow in the Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase and Vinndication in the Paddy Power Stayers’ Hurdle and he added: “I had a really good morning, watching the Cheltenham prospects on the gallops and I’m really looking forward to it.”

The conditions, testing as they were, got worse ahead of the Listed Paddy’s Rewards Club Novices’ Handicap Chase, which was run in a cloud-burst.

The torrential downpour did not hurt the chances of the mud-loving Farinet (13-2), who got off the mark over fences with a gutsy display to overhaul Up The Straight after both had made blunders late on.

Winning rider Charlie Deutsch said: “After the last time I rode him at Haydock, I thought this lad would stay really well and I think he’d get three miles.

“I wanted it to be a test, but coming into the last, which I missed, the horse in front had stopped a bit. But to be fair to him, he was very tough to be able to pick up again and run to the line like he did. He’s a very good horse.”

The Gary Moore yard have their sights firmly fixed on the future with Hudson de Grugy (4-5 favourite), who took apart a sparse field in the Paddy’s Giving Away £1 Million Today Juvenile Handicap Hurdle.

The four-year-old made light work of his three rivals to come home 17 lengths clear of Global Agreement in the four-runner contest, despite making a complete hash of the third last.

Winning rider Joshua Moore said: “I saw the wood come flying past me three out!

“But he really does keep on galloping and he’s a big, strong horse who has plenty of scope.

“He has not been the most natural hurdler in his early days, but he is getting a lot better and the first time around here (last time) he was a bit novicey and it cost him the race. He does need a galloping track, which suits him very well.

“I would say he is more of a future chaser. A fence would help him to back off a bit. He’s a big strong, horse and next year we will have to feel our way with him and pick our races carefully and keep him in mind for the following season. He wouldn’t want any jar in the ground and would prefer the ground on the soft side of good.”

Richard Johnson rarely comes away from Sandown without having a winner and this card was no exception, as Fortescue (8-1) made the most of the taxing ground to overhaul the front-running Debece and claim the fourth chase win of his career in the ‘From The Horse’s Mouth’ Podcast Handicap Chase.

Johnson said: “If anything, I was almost in top gear around the first circuit. He is one of those horses who benefit from these conditions today. I’m sure, in the future, there will be some nice staying chases to go for.

“There are one or two options for him maybe later in the year, but it largely depends on the ground. Perhaps races like the Welsh National or extremes of trip is where is future lies.”

Five Star Getaway (11-8 favourite) was arguably the most impressive winner of the afternoon, landing the concluding ‘Paddy Power ‘3 Sleeps To Cheltenham’ Handicap Chase in the hands of Nick Schofield.

The seven-year-old, who raced off bottom weight, was always travelling well and his rider was looking over his shoulder after the last on his way to a five-and-a-half-length victory.

Trainer Christian Williams said: “He’d have probably won with 14st on his back today! We have always thought a lot of him.

“We have tried to avoid running in the worst of the ground over the winter, but felt it would pay dividends today. It looks like he’s handled soft ground, but we were not sure.

“He will probably have his last run of the season in the final of this race at Haydock (April 3).”