CURRENCY IS ON THE MONEY FOR KEIGHLEY
Any Currency’s victory in the Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase was somewhat overdue – the 13-year-old has finished second in the race for the past two years.
Trained locally near Stow-on-the-Wold by Martin Keighley and ridden by Aidan Coleman, for whom it was a second Festival success, Any Currency won by a length at 11/1.
It was a first Festival win for a delighted Keighley, who said: “The horse deserves it. Aidan gave him a brilliant ride. I got the kids [Freddie and Harry] off school – I hope their teachers aren’t watching this!
“It was uphill all the way; he travelled and was jumping. It was perfect and all going to plan. It’s a dream come true. I had him in great form, better than he was last year.
“I’ve had so many horses go close here – obviously Any Currency, Champion Court… We’ve plenty of winners here at Cheltenham, but not at the Festival, so it’s absolutely great.”
4.10pm Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase
1) Any Currency (Cash Is King) Martin Keighley 13-11-04 Aidan Coleman 11/1
2) Josies Orders (J P McManus) Enda Bolger IRE 8-11-04 Miss Nina Carberry 15/8 Fav
3) Bless The Wings (Adrian Butler/S P O’Connor) Gordon Elliott IRE 11-11-04 Mr Jamie Codd 33/1
Distances: 1, 1¼, 5
BetBright Cup latest – GREAT BRITAIN – 7; IRELAND – 5
LONG BLANK FOR COLEMAN WORTH WAITING FOR IN ANY CURRENCY
One of racing’s top Jump jockeys rode his second Festival winner today, a long seven years after the first.
Aidan Coleman finally found the elusive next one thanks to Any Currency, who won the Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase. The victory, a first at the Festival for trainer Martin Keighley, followed Coleman’s win on Kayf Aramis in the 2009 Pertemps Network Final.
The winning jockey said: “He [Any Currency] massively deserved this. He seems to be pretty evergreen at 13 years old – who said they need to retire when they get older? He’s been second twice [in the past two years] and to finally win it is great.
“He’s just a pleasure to ride and I wouldn’t mind taking him hunting when I retire. He’s an easy ride and it’s just a pleasure to be involved with him.”
Keighley is a former member of Cheltenham’s groundstaff, and Coleman added: “There’s only one thing that knows this place better than Martin, and that’s this horse – no disrespect to [clerk of the course] Simon Claisse.
“I was delighted to hear the conditions of this race had been changed [it was formerly a handicap] because it brought everything into the horse’s favour. It was a great shout by Martin to take the hood off, and to put ear plugs in that we took out at the start. It made a massive difference because he travelled with such enthusiasm. He’s never travelled so well, and for a moment I wondered if we had gone a proper gallop because he was going so well.
“This [second] winner has taken me long enough. I’ve had a few great seasons, but the lack of a Cheltenham winner has been a cloud in all of them. You are never discouraged and today it was great to get one – I just hope I don’t wait seven seasons for the next one.”
CLOSE BUT NO CIGAR FOR JOSIES
Josies Orders stayed on strongly up the Cheltenham hill but couldn’t quite get to the 11/1 winner Any Currency in the Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase at Prestbury Park this afternoon.
The 15/8 favourite was given a customary waiting ride by Nina Carberry but was under pressure turning for home and the response wasn’t quite as instant as it had been when the eight-year-old had won the two Cross Country races at Cheltenham earlier on this season (at The Open and International meetings).
The son of Milan began to motor home as the field jumped the last but it was too little, too late as Any Currency held on to record a length victory.
Trainer Enda Bolger was happy enough with Josies Orders after the race.
“He’s run well but we couldn’t quite get there,” said the trainer.
Bless The Wings finished a further length and a quarter back in third and trainer Gordon Elliott was delighted that the 11-year-old had managed to outrun his odds of 33/1.
“He’s run well,” the handler reported.
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In 2015 Davy Russell completed a double on the day and secured a fifth successive festival ride in a row on Rivage D’Or. He had no rides on the opening day of the 2015 Festival and rode a treble on Gold Cup Friday 2014.
In 2014 the Philip Hobbs trained Balthazar King broke an Irish stranglehold on the Cheltenham Festival Cross Country Chase in landing the 2012 renewal and followed up two year later to become the second two time winner. He then put in a highly credible performance in the Grand National finishing second to Pineau De Re.
Glenfacclas Cross Country Chase Stats 2005-2014
- Richard Johnson and Philip Hobbs have finished 121 between 2012-2014 renewals with Balthazar King
- Irish trained horses have won 8 of the 10 renewals ( i.e all apart from Balthazar King)
- Market Position of the Winner 1 1 2 2 0 3 3 6 2 7
- Enda Bolger has trained the winner on 4 occasions but not since 2009
- 8 of the 10 winners were aged 9 or more
- Winners have been rated between 126 and 150
- 8 of the 10 winners carried 10-13 or less
Cross Country Chase Winners 2006-2015
