David Christie completed a successful Stratford raid when his Fermanagh stable deservedly ended the season by claiming a big prize as Vaucelet landed the Stratford Foxhunters Champion Hunter Chase.
The success came just 30 minutes after Christie had earlier claimed the Champion Novice Hunter Chase when Ask D’Man prevailed in a race which Vaucelet had won 12 months earlier, and unlike with the patiently ridden Ask D’Man, Barry O’Neill positioned Vaucelet on the heels of the pace-setting Le Breuil.
Sent off as the odds-on favourite following an agonising defeat at the hands of Cheltenham winner Billaway at the Punchestown festival, the seven-year-old, who like Ask D’Man was carrying the colours of Jennifer O’Kane and John Hegarty, did briefly have to be shaken up after fence 16 in the 3m 3f contest.
However, as Le Breuil gave way from the third-last fence, it was last year’s winner Law Of Gold that Barry O’Neill had to aim at as he switched his mount off the inside rail to challenge on the outside of that rival in the home straight.
Once getting over the final fence, which had proven to be his bogey fence at Punchestown, Vaucelet was quickly able to get on top as he went on to claim the £20,000 contest by four lengths and in doing so he followed in the footsteps of Chosen Dream, Mossey Joe and Salsify as previous winners of the race from these shores in the past decade.
“He is a proper stayer, in truth in any race that he runs in he only comes alive after two and a half miles and the stronger the pace the better,” Christie said.
“Tonight, they went so slow early on I think it actually affected his jumping, he was a little bit unsure. In a truly run championship race it will suit him a lot better as he relaxes and stays so well.
“At Punchestown there was a 120-rated horse 70 lengths back in third in Punchestown and if you look at the time of the race with the Gold Cup, there wasn’t a bit lot in the difference either, it was a proper hunter chase and it was only four weeks ago.
“People don’t understand what getting on a boat, travelling, staying over here the different water and everything else, you never come here confident, you come here hoping that they can show something.
“What I liked about both horses’ tonight is that they both battled, they didn’t get their wins easily and they came through it. It is the end of the season now and the next thing that they will see is a green field.
