Haydock Park Saturday review | Bo Zenith lands Victor Ludorum for trainer Gary Moore

Porticello committed to extending the Betfred Victor Ludorum Juvenile Hurdle in 2022 at odds of 30/100, which was the kind of prize Bo zenith (9/4 favourite) had been sent off in the debut for Gary Moore only to end a well-battered third of four.

Bo Zenith proved that run dead wrong in much faster conditions at Haydock and continued well after beating an ongoing duel with Cianciana who had just enough in the tank to fend off Punta Del Este.

Victorious driver Tom Cannon told Racing TV: “A very nice performance. They drew a line under his run at Sandown and Josh (Moore) told me beforehand that they thought he would come for the run and they were right.

“It was tight enough (for him). He was a bit green at different stages but he’ll get a bundle mentally for that and do everything right. It looks like he has the size and scope to progress and the further he went, the better off he seemed to be.

“I thought if I turned in at the end of the straight I might get in trouble but I reminded him a couple of times and he was gaining well down the straight and doing his best towards the line so that was perfect .”

Moore said: “He was so disappointing at Sandown. I thought I had found the worst race I could have found and I couldn’t believe he was beaten.

“I would hate to think he wasn’t fit enough. Maybe he just wasn’t fully awake and maybe he didn’t like the heavy ground at Sandown as much as I thought.

“I’ve only been listening to the race on the radio today and haven’t spoken to Tom yet so I don’t want to comment too much on his performance but it’s nice that he went and won.

“I’ll speak to the owners and make a plan from there.”

Porticello, representing the same owner and trainer, finished sixth in the JCB Triumph Hurdle and Betfair Sportsbook cut the winner from 33 to 16/1 for the youth crown at next month’s Cheltenham Festival; same price as Sky Bet who offer Non-Runner No Bet as well as Paddy Power who were more impressed when they saw Bo Zenith on 12/1. quoted.

Wakool (6/1) galloped on strong to reel in Itchy Feet and take second class honors in the Betfred Rendlesham Hurdle.

The gray was part of the third jump of the penultimate and was yet to find a length on the final flight but Wakool finished in the race and stayed strong under Conor O’Farrell to win by a length and a half with the pair finishing 10 lengths clear of Ashtown Lad in third place.

A delighted Nick Alexander, the winner’s trainer, said: “One of those horses who has continued to develop from his youthful hurdles and has now won a Grade Two, so brilliant.

“I thought he would never travel. He ran at Musselburgh 13 days ago where he had quite a tough race and I thought today came too early until he got home where he arrived at the bridle.

“He would have qualified for it (the Pertemps final at the Cheltenham Festival) but I don’t think so; I will speak to the owners.

“Today often isn’t the deepest second class race because it’s so close to Cheltenham so I’ve had that in my head for quite a while and I’m glad it worked out.”

Johnson’s blue (17/2) scored his seventh win in the last 12 months at the Pertemps Network Handicap Hurdle.

Mark Walford’s protégé was rated just 87 when his winning streak began at Hexham in March and had to start from a higher place of 123 at Haydock.

But the six-year-old proved the handicapper hasn’t caught up with him with a tenacious performance from the front, beating 4/1 favorites The Changing Man by a length and a half.

“He’s a real Trier, he’s real and he jumps. My plan wasn’t really to make the race today but he was jumping and going forward and enjoying it so I didn’t want to let him down,” said winning jockey Jamie Hamilton.

“The last stadium and a half it felt like the line would never come but he really stuck it out.”

Nigel Twiston-Davies and Jordan Nailor teamed up to win the Betfred Play Fred’s 5 Million Handicap Chase with 9/2 shots Super Six 15 lengths ahead of his rivals.

Nailor, partner of his first winner since riding his claim, said: “I’m very grateful that Nigel is still supporting me and giving me nice horses to ride. We will keep trying to move forward.

“We settled in well and he jumped fantastically – I can’t fault him at all.”

Jockey Lorcan Williams is confident the future is bright Have a think after continuing his progress with victory at the Albert Bartlett Prestige Novices’ Hurdle.

Son Kayf Tara, a £60,000 buy from the Irish point-to-point field, won back-to-back Novice hurdles at Chepstow earlier this season before being drawn at Kempton last month.

The six-year-old had a 17/2 chance of advancing to second grade and showed plenty of tenacity to use his undoubted talent to win a vibrant duel with a short-headed Collectors Item.

Makin’yourmindup – gifting trainer Paul Nicholls with a foursome the day after a triple at Wincanton – has no entry in the Albert Bartlett at the Cheltenham Festival next month, but his driver is sure there’s plenty for him to look forward to in connections you can look forward to when the time comes.

“The team is in great shape, things are going well and this is a nice horse – I’ve always thought a lot of him,” said Williams.

“I rode him in his first novice hurdles last season at Wincanton (finished second) and as you can see he’s a big horse that just needed a little time to grow into himself. I had the pleasure of riding him again at Chepstow and you could see how much he has developed. After riding him on the last day I said we should choose a Listed or Graded race.

“He should probably go hunting next year as he tends to jump his hurdles too well but today he was tough and galloped to the finish line. Three miles is obviously his journey and his future must be over the great fences.

“Needless to say how good Paul is with a three mile chaser and fingers crossed he will be a lovable chaser going forward.”

The final race was the Betfred Steve Hope Walrus Open Hunters’ Chase over two and three-quarters miles, which regularly provides strong leads for next month’s St James’s Place Festival Hunter Chase at the Cheltenham Festival.

The one trained by Chris Barber Famous Clermont (Favourite 4/5) was a very strong leader under Will Biddick and apart from a few loose horses he rarely had a moment of concern and was soon firing down the stretch for an easy 18-length win.

And the winning coach revealed he was certainly tempted by a tilt at the Spring Festival after that performance. He said: “That was very impressive. We came back from Wincanton and we knew he had the motor, so we just worked on his jumping a bit.

“Will’s father-in-law Rupert Nuttall has done a fantastic job with him and we’ve done a lot of show jumping with him. We probably made it a bit too complicated for him to be honest, as a young horse he wasn’t very easy so we dropped him and stuff but he’s just grown up now.

“Its engine is there and when we touch wood we unlock where we want to go. We’re looking at Cheltenham but I need to talk to the team. Cheltenham was out of sight after Wincanton because of his jumping but after that it’s back in sight! Will is keen to bring him to Aintree but all options are open.”

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