David Nicholson's runners continued in unstoppable form at Market Rasen yesterday as the trainer struck with each of the three horses making the journey from Jackdaws Castle, all under the expert steering of Adrian Maguire.
Nicholson has sent out nine runners so far this week, notching a double on Tuesday, one winner on Wednesday and three yesterday. In case you were wondering, he didn't have any runners on Monday.
After Toby Brown had completed the 24 to 1 trio by beating fellow 9 to 4 joint-favourite Five Flags in the concluding Grundsos Handicap Hurdle, Nicholson's assistant Alan King said: "What a wonderful day. If we had won a Gold Cup I don't think it could be any better."
One-time Triumph Hurdle favourite Namoodaj initiated the treble with a victory in the Selkirk Novices' Hurdle. Leading two out, the gelding justified 2 to 1 favouritism by five lengths from As You Like It.
"He was favourite for the Triumph Hurdle in January before he had even run, but he didn't run in the race," explained King. "He was been disappointing but has been hobdayed."
The middle leg of the Nicholson-Maguire threesome came with Coole Hill in the Caradon Ideal Handicap Chase as the mare, the 6 to 4 market leader, proved too strong for Naughty Future.
Sad Mad Bad proved dangerous to know with an impressive debut under National Hunt Rules in the Air Products Juvenile Novices' Hurdle. The Mary Reveley-trained three-year-old, who runs in the colours of Peter Savill, takes his name from a Racing Post headline of 1995 under which the paper's breeding columnist Tony Morris criticised Savill for choosing not to run his colt Celtic Swing in the Epsom Derby.
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