You could tell what it meant by the demeanour of Tony McCoy. His customary granite deadpan was replaced by a wide grin and his usual earnest debrief by a hug for Jonjo O’Neill. For jockey and trainer, belated graduation of the exasperating talent called Exotic Dancer was cause for deep satisfaction.
Six previous grade one chases had brought a clutch of silver and bronze medals. Finally, they had to travel abroad to achieve the breakthrough but, for two Irishmen like McCoy and O’Neill, there was added gratification in winning the Lexus Chase, and at the principal expense of Ireland’s only plausible Gold Cup hope.
War Of Attrition has been skilfully coaxed back from serious injury by Mouse Morris, his trainer, but he was beaten 20 lengths yesterday. There were no obvious excuses, whereas for connections of The Listener, who fell at the second, and Neptune Collonges, still in front when departing two from home, there was at least the consoling uncertainty of what might have been.
The latter will assuredly progress and the Irish Hennessy, back here in February, could see him restate the challenge to his stablemates, Denman and Kauto Star, at Cheltenham. And that must now be the aim once more for Exotic Dancer after a change of tactics executed by McCoy brought the glory that had eluded him so long.
Defeat in the Betfair Chase at Haydock, even after the exit of his old nemesis Kauto Star, had left McCoy despairing. Not for nothing, though, has he been champion jockey 13 years in succession. McCoy devised the notion of dropping his horse right off the pace to relax him, then carried it out flawlessly.
His obstacles were chiefly overcome before the race begun. First, he had to obtain release from his day job riding for J.P. McManus, who ran Glenfinn Captain. With this granted, he had to survive a boneshaking fall at Kempton on Saturday which left him prone for several minutes.
The race itself changed shape with the fall of The Listener donating an easy lead to Ruby Walsh on Neptune Collonges. In the back straight for the final time, Exotic Dancer scythed through the field, jumping immaculately. He had taken the measure of War Of Attrition and was the winner in waiting even before the leader hit the second-last hard enough to dislodge Walsh.
Paul Nicholls, left to reflect on a fruitless four-horse raid on this meeting, said: Neptune was in the right place and he would have galloped right to the line. It was just one of those silly mistakes and we won’t rush to run him again before February.
Perversely, though, this also made life harder for McCoy, now left in front. I was worried, because it wasn’t where I wanted to be, he said. I’d kept him out of the race to help him settle - I knew if I rode him like I did at Haydock, he wouldn’t win. Few horses have deserved a grade one as much as him. Take out the top two in the Gold Cup and he’s the next best, so we’d feel sick if something happened to them and we weren’t there.
O’Neill, while agreeing that frustration has been paramount in the training of this gifted horse, believed this was the best he has performed since his days of winning big handicaps at Cheltenham. He is likely to return there next month for the Letheby and Christopher Chase before a third try at the Gold Cup, for which Ladbrokes cut him from 33-1 to 12-1.
Nicholls confirmed that Kauto Star is blooming after his third King George win and that Denman will not run before the Aon Chase at Newbury. You wouldn’t know Kauto has had a race - he seems to know when he’s been good. As for Denman, I could run him in a hurdle race but what would it achieve?
The Nicholls runners were second and fourth in the Coral Welsh National on Saturday as Notre Pere provided a first Irish winner of the Chepstow marathon. A year ago yesterday, the winner took the grade one novice chase at Leopardstown, which this time was widely expected to see Trafford Lad maintain his unbeaten record over fences.
Instead, Trafford Lad idled and was caught close home by Casey Jones, while the grade two three-mile hurdle saw a scrambling head victory for the odds-on Catch Me. It was not an advertisement of his prospects for the World Hurdle and Edward O’Grady, his trainer, observed: I don’t think Nicky Henderson will lose any sleep.
Henderson will be watching intently today, though, as the likely Irish threats to his Champion Hurdle favourite, Binocular, line up in the Festival Hurdle. Sizing Europe, the obvious favourite, was slightly lame yesterday, putting his participation in doubt.
