DAY THREE REPORTS:BIG BUCK'S, the horse that famously hits flat spots in his races, instead managed a career peak to win back-to-back Ladbrokes World Hurdles at Cheltenham yesterday and in the process appeared to take the weight of the world off his trainer Paul Nicholls.
On the eve of today’s Gold Cup, it was a massive morale-booster to Britain’s champion trainer who prior to yesterday’s feature race had had to settle for just one visit to the winner’s enclosure this week with Sanctuaire.
Nicholls might publicly echo his jockey Ruby Walsh’s mantra that all you can reasonably hope for at Cheltenham is to have one winner and get out in one piece, but his accomplishments over the last decade mean the pressure to win is there in almost every race.
Certainly Master Minded’s flop in Wednesday’s Champion Chase had Nicholls pondering if this Festival was destined to become one of frustration but Big Buck’s was one Ditcheat hotpot that didn’t let the side down.
Instead he has never looked better, powering through the race on the bridle and never hitting one of those infamous flat spots where he looks to be struggling before then rallying to win.
“If he hit a flat spot, no one saw it,” grinned owner Andy Stewart, who revealed that a less than scintillating piece of work on Saturday had done nothing for his trainer’s nerves. “I was sweating, but that’s Big Buck’s,” said Nicholls. “He can work brilliantly with Kauto Star one day and then work alongside something inferior and he’s looking around doing nothing. He is a bit quirky and you have to get into his head a little bit. But I could have done without it five days before a World Hurdle!”
Nicholls dismissed any chance of Big Buck’s joining Kauto Star and Denman back over fences.
“I don’t think there is any point when he is so good over hurdles. I think it was his best ever performance and win number three next year is the plan,” he said. “We have worked out he is best fresh so have kept him for this. You always worry but he travelled really well today.”
In contrast, Walsh didn’t appear to have a care in the world as he trailed Time For Rupert and War Of Attrition down the hill and then waited until after jumping the last to send Big Buck’s clear.
“He’s a special horse. I felt Sentry Duty and Karabak would be trailing me so I rode him a bit closer to the pace than usual but I could have dropped him out as well. It didn’t matter because I always had plenty in hand. It’s a joy to ride this horse,” he said.
“Time For Rupert is a fair horse that beat me in a handicap at Aintree last year but it’s a long way from there to here,” Walsh added.
The 33-1 Powerstation again ran above himself at Cheltenham and did best of the Irish in third. It was a fifth placed effort at the track for the Eamonn O’Connell trained horse whose long-term aim could be June’s French Champion Hurdle. Big Buck’s is now as low as 7-4 to join Inglis Drever as the only three-time winner of the World Hurdle in 2011.
Across The Line
Winning Jockeys
R Walsh 1 (3 overall)
AP McCoy 1 (2)
R Johnson 1 (2)
H Frost 1 (1)
D Cook 1 (1)
R O’Harding 1 (1)
From the Festival: BJ Geraghty 2; A Lynch 1; P Aspell 1; AP Heskin 1; K Walsh 1; J Maguire 1; DN Russell 1; J Tizzard 1.
Winning Trainers
P Hobbs 1 (2)
D Pipe 2 (2)
P Nicholls 1 (2)
D McCain Jnr 1 (2)
J O’Neill 1 (1)
From the Festival: N Henderson 2; F Murphy 1; C Byrnes 1; CA Murphy 1; CL Tizzard 1; H de Bromhead 1; J Moffatt 1; M Hourigan 1; WP Mullins 1.
(Irish in bold)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/YVIRIOZQ35EWRPZXR27KGMO6YU.png)