Tag Archive for: Brendan Powell

JPR One back on track with Lingfield success

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JPR One stamped his class on the Download The Racing App Now Lightning Novices’ Chase at Lingfield.

A winner on his chasing debut at Newton Abbot in October, Joe Tizzard’s charge looked set to follow up in the Arkle Trial at Cheltenham the following month when unseating Brendan Powell at the final fence.

In December, he finished a creditable third in the Grade One Henry VIII Novices’ Chase at Sandown and got back on the winning trail in this Grade Two event, which was saved and rescheduled following the abandonment of the opening day of the Winter Million Festival on Friday.

There was drama from the off, with Matata hanging violently left on the approach to the first fence, badly impeding the 9-4 favourite Djelo, who had nowhere to go and ultimately came to grief.

Matata attempted to make every yard of the running from that point on, but 6-1 shot JPR One took over travelling strongly five fences from home and looked in control for the remainder of the race.

Matata did his best to make a race of it in the home straight and was making inroads on an idling JPR One late on, but the latter was good value for the winning margin of half a length.

JPR One at Joe Tizzard's yard
JPR One at Joe Tizzard’s yard (David Davies/PA)

Tizzard said: “He was really good today. I’m not making too many excuses for Sandown, I just think he got stuck in the Sandown ground, which you can.

“We had a little walk down the straight today and I was amazed by how well it walked. It was an easy watch today, he travelled great and jumped for fun and that’s the horse we think we’ve got up against the best two-mile novices in England anyway.

“We’ve always held him in pretty high regard and he perhaps didn’t get to the levels over hurdles, but certainly over fences, if he didn’t have that little stumble at the back of the last at Cheltenham, he was going to look majorly impressive.

“I think the ground at Sandown just took its toll but today is the best we’ve seen him and he’s got a fair bit about him on the day.

“He’s got so much athleticism and Brendan has got the hang of not getting too excited – and you could tell he enjoyed that today. We think he’s a smart horse with a big future.”

Coral cut JPR One to 16-1 from 25-1 for the Arkle Trophy and Tizzard confirmed that Cheltenham Festival contest as his next objective.

He added: “We’ll have to take him to the Arkle now, he deserves to be there.

“He’s only a novice for one year, so I would have thought we would have a crack at it. He’s already proved he runs well around Cheltenham, so I don’t know why we wouldn’t.”



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Powell backing JPR for Grade One glory

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Brendan Powell is backing JPR One to make amends for a final-fence blunder last time out when he returns for the Betfair Henry VIII Novices’ Chase at Sandown Park on Saturday.

The Joe Tizzard-trained gelding looked to be en route to Grade Two success in the Arkle Challenge Trophy Trial Novices’ Chase at Cheltenham last month, but made an error at the last and unseated his rider.

Connections will regroup at the weekend for the Henry VIII, success in which would be a first at the Grade One level for Powell after multiple placings throughout his career.

“I’m really looking forward to riding JPR One again as he looked like he was going to be an impressive winner at Cheltenham before making a mistake and getting rid of me at the last fence,” he said.

“This is a race that will take a bit of winning, but I wouldn’t want to be on any other horse and hopefully I can make up for what happened at Cheltenham on Saturday.

“I think I’ve been second in seven or eight Grade Ones, but I don’t think I’ve ridden in a Grade One where I’ve had a proper live chance, but this weekend I do and that makes it even more exciting.

“It is something I want to get on my CV, and it is something I want to achieve before I finish my career.

“To win a Grade One for Joe would mean just as much to me as winning a Grade One for myself. I think Joe was a big influence on me riding for the Tizzard team again.

“I’ll always be grateful to him for that and to repay him with a Grade One win would be amazing.”

Though the Cheltenham mishap was costly, the six-year-old otherwise ran a pleasing race and has taken to chasing well after a successful hurdling career.

JPR One at Joe Tizzard's yard
JPR One at Joe Tizzard’s yard (David Davies/PA)

“That was the frustrating thing as he didn’t put a foot wrong the whole way around at Cheltenham,” Powell said.

“He jumped and travelled and quickened well turning in. He has got all the attributes to be a good horse.

“He gave me a good spin at Newton Abbot on his debut over fences and I was quite surprised the price he was that day as well. He was seriously well handicapped that day if he came back to form over fences.

“The most important thing for our novice chasers is that they have a nice time and a good experience first time over fences. He did that and managed to win as well, which was a bonus.

“Hopefully on Saturday he should be good enough to be there, or thereabouts, at the back end of the race, then I suppose it will be then when we find out if he is good enough.”



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Henrietta Knight to return to training ranks

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Henrietta Knight, who saddled Best Mate to three straight Cheltenham Gold Cup triumphs, is poised for a return to the training ranks in the new year.

The 76-year-old is best known for her hat-trick of victories in the blue riband event between 2002 and 2004 but was also the trainer of Champion Chase hero Edredon Bleu, who similarly carried the colours of Best Mate’s owner Jim Lewis.

Knight, who was married to former champion jump jockey Terry Biddlecombe, retired in 2012 but has remained involved in the sport by running a pre-training business and also being an active figure at the sales.

Henrietta Knight with Best Mate
Henrietta Knight with Best Mate (David Davies/PA)

However, she will now recommence training under rules from her West Lockinge base, where she hopes to train around 25-30 horses.

Knight will be assisted by Grand National-winning jockey Brendan Powell, who was a trainer in his own right before serving as assistant to Joseph O’Brien and Rebecca Menzies in recent years, and he is excited to link-up with such a distinguished name in racing.

“I’ve known Hen for 30-odd years and was good friends with Terry,” said Powell.

“I came over here to Rebecca’s and it sort of hasn’t really worked out and Hen mentioned to me in the week that she was thinking if she got the horses, she wouldn’t mind training again and asked if I would consider going down and helping out.

“I had a few chats with her and we decided that I would give it a go and see what happens.”

He went on: “I know she has applied for the licence and there should be no reason why she wouldn’t get it.

“It’s a good place there and my son Brendan rides out there along with Paul O’Brien and James Bowen. She’s always busy and always got plenty of horses in and she is hoping to get around 25-30 horses, which would be just a nice number. We will give it a go and see what happens.

“She has been a great trainer over the years and with the horses she has had. It’s obviously not going to be as big as that now, but I’m sure we can get some nice owners together – she has a few already – and we will see if we can build on that.”

Knight told Telegraph Sport: “People will probably think I’m mad starting again when most people are stopping, but I like doing things and I miss the buzz.

“Cheltenham’s where I love and I can’t wait to get back there. The emphasis will be on trying to find a few chasers to take me back to Cheltenham. I’m very excited and want to get going.”



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