Jones saddles up a Warwick treble
BEN Jones rode the last three winners at Warwick's Fiver Friday meeting to take his score to 60 in what has become a breakthrough season for the up-and-coming jockey, reports David Hucker.
Jones was on the mark with two winners for his retained stable of Ben Pauling with 11/8 favourite Lanesborough taking the JCB Hydradig Handicap Hurdle by five lengths and newcomer Betty's Daisy staying on strongly to land the closing Join Racing TV Now Mares' Open National Hunt Flat Race by seven lengths with the field well strung out behind.
In between, he scored on the grey Fashion's Model, who was winning for the second time over fences, for Welsh trainer Shelia Lewis in the Visit racingtv.com Mares' Handicap Chase (Queen Boudicca Mares' Chase Qualifier), putting in a good jump at the last fence to seal victory over The Midwife.
The most valuable race of the afternoon, the £15,000 JCB Fastrac Handicap Chase over two-and-a-half miles, went to the Emma Lavelle trained King's Threshold who headed top-weight Demnat at the last fence, drawing clear on the run-in to win by five lengths.
The eight-race card had got underway with the Class 3 Warwick Novices' Chase over three miles for horses which had not won more than one chase and, although attracting just three runners, it produced the most exciting finish of the afternoon. Deafening Silence, who was breaking his duck over fences at the fourth attempt, just got the better of Chepstow winner Destroytheevidence on the run-in to win by a neck and give Dan and Harry Skelton another victory at the course.
This was trainer Skelton's 147th winner of the season and, although his best total of 205 in 2018/19 might be out of reach, he has a real chance of being crowned champion this time, having amassed over £2.3m in prize money with the Cheltenham Festival to come.
There was another local winner in the JCB 'Hands And Heels' Handicap Hurdle for conditional and amateur riders over three-and-a-quarter miles in the shape of Barricane, trained at Wilmcote by Olly Murphy. Barricane is owned by a syndicate headed by Warwick general manager Thomas Williams and there were plenty of happy faces in the winner's enclosure.
Winning jockey Lewis Saunders had been on the mark for Murphy with Alexandra Larose at Huntingdon the day before and this brought up the trainer's 104th winner of the season, his best since taking over from his mother Anabel who was on hand to welcome back Barricane.
Prophesea and jockey Bryan Carver scored for the second time this season when taking the EBF “National Hunt” Novices' Hurdle and Carver was on the mark again in the Aston Villa Foundation Handicap Hurdle with Another Fine Mess
