Tag Archive for: Badger Beer Handicap Chase

Blackjack Magic too good in Badger Beer Chase

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Blackjack Magic showed plenty of heart to repel Threeunderthrufive and claim the 62nd Badger Beer Handicap Chase at Wincanton.

One of four in the field for Dorset handler Anthony Honeyball, the eight-year-old was sent off a 5-1 chance in the hands of Rex Dingle and was in the ideal spot during the early exchanges, keeping close tabs on The Big Breakaway, who usurped defending champion Frodon at the head of proceedings.

With a circuit to run, Dingle moved his mount forward to join The Big Breakaway on the front-end and turning for home with just the fences in the straight to jump, there was only Paul Nicholls’ 3-1 favourite Threeunderthrufive going just as well.

The duo matched strides down to the second last and the last, but it was Honeyball’s charge who cleared the final jumping test with more precision and pulled out extra with the winning line approaching to secure a three-length success.

Bryony Frost and Frodon, last year’s race winners, came home 14 lengths adrift of the front two in third.

Honeyball said: “We thought he would need it a bit. It was not a 17-runner affair, so we thought let him take his chance and have a round of jumping and that is what we have done.

“He wasn’t really targeted like (stablemates) Sam Brown and Forward Plan, who were always coming here. He was just an afterthought. The options weren’t there for us but he is a novice stepping forward and we thought he might have a chance.

“The race at Uttoxeter must have worked out quite well and I think people were climbing on the back of that. His best form for us was on soft and heavy. He always held that advantage.

“It was a very good boost. I was worried we were going to get beat. He is obviously one to catch fresh, but he looked big and burly to me.

“We feel he wants a bit of daylight so he had to start out bit wide, but he managed to come in and have a nice economical round. He was saving all the time. He has got a bit of speed to him and that enabled him to get a fill of the lungs. It is funny how it has come right for him.”

Threeunderthrufive is on course for Newbury
Threeunderthrufive is on course for Newbury (Simon Marper/PA)

Nicholls is looking towards next month’s Coral Gold Cup at Newbury for Threeunderthrufive, while Frodon could head to Kempton on Boxing Day for the Ladbrokes King George VI Chase.

He said: “Threeunderthrufive ran a belter giving a bit of weight away. He is in the Coral Gold Cup off 10st 6lb and he won’t get a penalty and won’t go up in the weights, so that is a positive and he is likely to go there.

“He has run a cracker. He was giving more than a stone in weight to the winner. If he jumped a bit more fluently over the last two, he might have been closer. There is a big handicap in him somewhere.

“We thought all week it might be tacky enough for Frodon, but he has run a solid race to finish third. He is in the King George and he might run in that on decent ground. He might be better off in that if there is a small field off level weights as opposed to running off a big weight in a handicap.

“Bryony said he just wants slightly better ground, but he has run a super race.”



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Frodon and Frost primed for one final hurrah

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Bryony Frost is eager to savour every moment as she reunites with Frodon in search of another famous victory in Wincanton’s Badger Beer Handicap Chase.

Paul Nicholls’ popular 11-year-old carried top-weight to victory in conjunction with his ever-loyal pilot 12 months ago and the duo will be looking to repeat the dose on Saturday afternoon when Frodon steps out for the first time in what will be his final season in training.

Frost envisages plenty of Frodon supporters making the trip to Wincanton as she dreams of another heroic afternoon aboard the horse that has hallmarked her riding career.

Jockey Bryony Frost with Frodon
Jockey Bryony Frost with Frodon (John Walton/PA)

“At the end of the day he doesn’t owe anyone anything and you know for a fact going out there, he is going to give 110 per cent out on track,” said Frost.

“I can’t wait to experience the crowd, and last year was the same. We had people coming down from Newcastle and places like that just to come and see him and he had a lot of support.

“With this being his swansong year, I feel that people are going to come out to see Frodon regardless of what happens out on track and for me that is very special to be a part of, I’m very lucky.

“I remember the first time my name went alongside him, how excited and nervous I was all at the same time to get to ride Frodon, it was like ‘wow’. It’s the same feeling now and I don’t know how many times we have partnered each other (28), but we’ve been around the block with each other and it’s awesome.”

She went on: “The (2019) Ryanair was incredible but I could argue that the Champion Chase in Ireland (at Down Royal in 2021) really meant a lot.

“He turned the tables that day (on Minella Indo) and was as brave as I had ever had him and the way he defended the front for me. I get goosebumps talking about it as you rarely meet a character as brave as that – horse, human, whatever you like – in any walk of life.

“We’ve done it for so many years now and the partnership in itself is very special. His owner Mr Vogt is a great chap to ride for and he is pretty much symbolic now in the yard at Ditcheat. He is one of a kind and very special to a lot of people.”

Bryony Frost celebrates aboard Frodon after they won the Ladbrokes Champion Chase at Down Royal
Bryony Frost celebrates aboard Frodon after they won the Ladbrokes Champion Chase at Down Royal (Niall Carson/PA)

The ground at Wincanton was described as good to firm when Frodon got on the scoresheet in 2022, but conditions are likely to be on the softer side this time around, with Frost keen to see as little rain as possible before the big race to boost her mount’s chances.

“He’s never liked it too testing,” continued Frost. “His main thing he likes to do is jump and when it gets heavy and testing and tacky, he doesn’t tend to jump out of it.

“He’s best on that good ground where he can really operate over his fences, that’s where he gets his biggest kicks from.”

She went on: “We’ve got a lot of weight on soft ground, which in tight handicaps is always something that will take its toll, but he doesn’t know his age at home and he’s in fantastic form.

“He’s in great shape and I schooled him in the middle of the week. He was his usual boisterous, enthusiastic self in the school and I just can’t wait to go out there and gallop and jump fences with him.”

The locally-based Nicholls has won four of the last six Badger Beer Chases and will also saddle Frodon’s stablemate Threeunderthrufive in search of his 12th victory in the race.

Threeunderthrufive will join Frodon in action for Paul Nicholls at Wincanton
Threeunderthrufive will join Frodon in action for Paul Nicholls at Wincanton (Simon Marper/PA)

“He was frustrating last season but to be fair he struggled with his breathing in his races, so he had a wind op in the summer and seems in very good shape ahead of his return to action,” Nicholls told Betfair.

“Crucially he has won all five of his starts on right-handed tracks and he stays very well. The Badger Beer Chase looks a perfect stepping stone for him ahead of the Coral Gold Cup at Newbury and he might well be the one to beat at Wincanton.”

Joe Tizzard is another nearby handler aiming for success in the track’s feature event, where The Big Breakaway attempts to leave some disappointing outings in the spring in the past and return to the form that saw him finish second in the Welsh National last Christmas.

He said: “His first couple of runs at Haydock and in the Coral Welsh National were cracking runs, but he didn’t run great at Cheltenham and then he was unlucky at Aintree, he just got knocked over at the second through no fault of his own.

“We think it is a nice place to start at Wincanton and he will have his ground and we think it is a nice place to start before we head to the Becher Chase.”



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