Tag Archive for: Go Dante

Go Dante grabs Imperial Cup in Sandown thriller

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Go Dante snatched the Betfair Imperial Cup Handicap Hurdle on the nod for Olly Murphy and Sean Bowen.

The eight-year-old was the 5-1 joint-favourite for the contest and was patiently ridden by Bowen in a field of 15 rivals.

The bay did not always jump with fluency and did not look the obvious winner as they turned for home, with plenty of horses ahead of him and two hurdles left to jump.

He was gaining ground constantly, however, and began to close in on Dan Skelton’s Faivoir at the head of affairs.

The two horses drew level as the post neared and a photo finish was required to split them, with Go Dante coming out on top by a nose.

Murphy said: “Horse and jockey were both very good there and my best friend (jockey) Harry Skelton has finished second, so it’s a good job I didn’t get a lift down with him.

“It was a great horse race and Faivoir is a tough horse and has won a County Hurdle.

“Go Dante has progressed well and we always thought he was going to be really good and he’s come here today off a mark still in the 120s. I’m not saying I would have been disappointed if he didn’t win, but I thought he was better than his mark just yet to prove it.

“He’s won a good pot today and these are the races you want to win aren’t they.”

Go Dante holds entries in both the County Hurdle and Martin Pipe at the Cheltenham Festival, but Murphy will resist the temptation to head to Prestbury Park, instead thinking of one more run elsewhere before a possible chasing campaign next term.

He continued: “The first thing I said to Barbara (Hester, owner) is we won’t be running next week and the only reason I left him in was in case he bolted up.

“He’s a horse who has not underachieved, but he’s had a lot of problems and it’s a big well done to my team at home. He’s been a tough horse to train and he broke his pelvis in a nasty schooling incident. He’s been through the mill this lad.

“I think he will improve for a fence (next year) and I imagine he’ll have one more run over hurdles this year. Where that will be I don’t know, but I would imagine we might have a look at something at Aintree or Punchestown, or maybe the Scottish Champion Hurdle – something like that if it is soft.

“He’s had a very good year and hopefully he will be a very nice chaser next year.”

Faivoir will return to Cheltenham next Friday
Faivoir will return to Cheltenham next Friday (Adam Davy/PA)

Despite Go Dante swerving the Festival, it appears the vanquished Faivoir will head to Prestbury Park to defend his County Hurdle crown.

“I think he will go to Cheltenham,” said Skelton.

“He’s run very very well and as long as he’s OK – we have six days, it’s not four – I think we have enough time in between to go.

“He’s an older, experienced horse and if he goes to the County Hurdle and it doesn’t work out and he finishes 12th, it’s kind of not a big deal because he will come back.

“At his age he just gives himself a hard race and wins or nearly wins or he doesn’t. So we’ll give it a whirl.”

Murphy eyeing Imperial Cup tilt with Go Dante

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The Betfair Imperial Cup Handicap Hurdle could prove a more than suitable alternative to the Cheltenham Festival for connections of Go Dante, who are weighing up a shot at the valuable Sandown prize.

As well as his ticket to Saturday’s Sandown feature, Olly Murphy’s Betfair Hurdle third holds entries in both the Country Hurdle and Martin Pipe races at Prestbury Park the following week.

However, with the eight-year-old not certain to make the final line-up for those events in the Cotswolds, the Warren Chase handler is seriously considering a trip to Esher for the prestigious £100,000 contest, with Go Dante a 7-1 chance with the sponsors.

Olly Murphy is the trainer of Go Dante
Olly Murphy is the trainer of Go Dante (Simon Marper/PA)

Murphy said: “It’s certainly something we are looking at. Ideally, we would have liked to have got into a Cheltenham handicap but that doesn’t look like happening, so the Imperial Cup looks the most likely race we will take our chance in.

“He’s in good form and had a very good run in the Betfair. I think soft ground and a stiff two miles at Sandown should suit him well.

“He’s got two entries at Cheltenham next week and it’s a case of looking at where he’s most likely to get in and making the right decision, but we’re certainly looking at Sandown on Saturday.”

Similar sentiments apply to Oliver Greenall and Josh Guerriero’s Making Headway, who also has a couple of options at the Cheltenham Festival but has connections leaning towards a crack at the Imperial Cup.

Making Headway winning at Newbury
Making Headway winning at Newbury (Adam Davy/PA)

An impressive winner from the front in heavy ground at Newbury last month, it could be ground conditions once again that ultimately decide if the six-year-old’s team roll the dice or hold fire in case they make the cut in either the Coral Cup or Martin Pipe at Prestbury Park.

“I think he will (go to the Imperial Cup), as long as it doesn’t dry out too much,” said Greenall. “He will definitely want it no quicker than good to soft or soft – it looks a nice opportunity for him.

“He’s not guaranteed to get in at Cheltenham and we were going to go for the good novice race at Kelso (Premier Novices’ Hurdle) but that looked quite hot and there was a couple we didn’t want to take on.”

Ben Pauling’s recent Huntingdon scorer Jipcot currently heads the market, with the in-form handler also responsible for narrow Ascot runner-up Bad amongst the 23 in the mix for Saturday’s contest.