Bristol De Mai wins the Charlie Hall Chase at Wetherby
Nigel Twiston-Davies' grey was left to pick up the pieces after popular stayers' Coneygree and Cue Card failed to complete at Wetherby.
BRISTOL DE MAI shone brightest in the Bet365 Charlie Hall Chase as the dazzling autumn sun did for the clash between two of racing’s best-loved horses.
The Wetherby thriller was billed as a mouth-watering head-to-head between hugely-popular pair Coneygree and Cue Card.
But it never materialised with both their jockeys blaming the low sun on uncharacteristic mistakes.
It left Nigel Twiston-Davies to steal the show with a one-two as 6-1 shot Bristol De Mai – ridden by Daryl Jacob - saw off stablemate Blaklion down the straight.
It was a record fifth win in the Grade 2 contest for the Gloucestershire trainer having first lifted the prize with Tipping Tim 25 years ago.
Twiston-Davies said: “This is the first major race of the season so you can target it a long way out - it’s not a prep race.
“Bristol De Mai doesn’t turn seven for a few weeks so he should be coming into his own this season which is amazing given what he has already achieved.
“It will be the Betfair Chase next for him. He should get his soft ground and he likes Haydock. He was always travelling and I was just very happy with him.
“Blaklion pleased me too. He was getting 6lbs so the handicapper shouldn’t be putting him up. That should leave him spot-on for the Becher Chase.”
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The drama arrived early in the race as 2015 Gold Cup hero Coneygree took off too early and landed on the third fence before stumbling on landing at the next.
Nico de Boinville pulled him up in front of the stands with a circuit to run as he dropped through the field.
Assistant trainer Sara Bradstock said: “Nico said the sun was very bright and it might be that he didn’t see the fence
“He simply frightened himself at the ditch. He’s the best jumper in the world normally so something wasn’t right. Thankfully he seems fine - he’s got a little cut but nothing serious.”
Jockey Paddy Brennan also thought the low sun caused Cue Card – winner of nine Grade 1 races – to take a crashing fall five fences from home.
Brennan had better luck in the Grade 2 Bet365 Hurdle as Colin’s Sister continued Fergal O’Brien’s superb start to the season.
The 10-1 shot saw off Wholestone by a couple of lengths to make sure her trainer got one over his old boss and current landlord Twiston-Davies.
O’Brien said: “It’s such a shame her owner-breeder Caroline Beresford-Wylie can’t be here as she broke her arm a few days ago.
“We’ve always thought three miles would be the making of Colin’s Sister and she loved the ground.
“We’ll have to see what’s next. Before this we were thinking of going back against mares at either Kempton or Cheltenham.
“We didn’t come here for a prep but I honestly thought today would put her spot on for one of those. This has blown us all away.”
Colin’s Sister provided Paddy Brennan with a pretty big ‘up’ before his tumbling ‘down’ from Cue Card.
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He said: “She’s a very special filly. I got there a bit soon – she dug me out of hole.
“It’s a brilliant training performance. Fergal chose this race – I’ve been fighting with him all week to run in the mares’ race. He was right – he’s some trainer.”
Colin’s Sister was cut to 25-1 for the Sun Bets Stayers’ Hurdle by the sponsors.