Glory And Fortune causes shock to land Betfair Hurdle at Newbury for Tom Lacey after thrilling finish
There was a slight shock as the Tom Lacey-trained Glory And Fortune came out on top after a thrilling finish in the £155,000 Betfair Hurdle at Newbury on Saturday afternoon.
The seven-year-old, ridden by Stan Sheppard, finished a short head clear of I Like To Move It, while the Nicky Henderson-trained First Street came home in third.
Glory and Fortune, who finished well when coming second - and behind Epatante - at the Christmas Hurdle at Kempton, was priced at 20/1 for Britain’s richest handicap hurdle race.
“He was a big price and I didn’t feel too much pressure,” Lacey said after the race. “It was nice coming here today with a big-priced horse in a good handicap like that.”
“He has got over wind issues and he is just growing in confidence and improving and I think we have actually learnt a lot about the horse ourselves.
“We just stop working him because he does enough on his own without us forcing him to do his work once or twice a week.”
Despite a number of setbacks in his career, Lacey admitted the horse has improved since returning.
“He has already been a fun horse for us, he has had his setbacks through no fault of his own and he has been a fab horse.
He has always been a good horse,” he said. “He won a listed bumper at Cheltenham, aged four, on New Year's Day.
“We have probably learned how to train him better over the last year and I can’t quite believe it.
Only 14 went to post for the featured race on Betfair Super Saturday, the joint-lowest field since Betfair took over the sponsorship in 2012.
“It was the smallest field in a number of years,” said Lacey. “I thought he would have a chance based on the Christmas Hurdle, but I appreciate the race fell apart a bit.
“Not So Sleepy was trying to bounce back, so was Tritronic, but he ran Epatante to the line so we were hopeful, but you never thought you would win it.”
Elsewhere on the day, Eldorado Allen produced a powerful performance to land the Denman Chase.
The Venetia Williams-trained Funambule Sivola was an impressive winner in the Betfair Exchange Game Spirit.
Meanwhile, Bravemansgame extended his unbeaten run over fences with a win in the opening race of the afternoon.
The Brimming Water won the Daily Rewards With Betfair Handicap Hurdle, Surtitle won for Fergal O’Brien in the My Odds Boost On Betfair Novices' Hurdle and Top Dog won the National Hunt Flat Race.