Racing: Valley Henry runs hard for Gold Cup

Festival hope bounces back on better ground while Chives underlines National claims

Where underfoot conditions matter, one man's mat is another man's Persian. After Valley Henry had beaten Chives on middling sort of turf in the Aon Chase here yesterday, their trainers offered diametrically opposite views of the outcome vis-à-vis the Cheltenham Gold Cup, for which the three-miler is the last of the recognised domestic trials. "If the ground is soft, he won't run," said Paul Nicholls of Valley Henry. "He'll only run if it comes up soft," countered Henrietta Knight on Chives' behalf.

So, anyone fancying either horse for the Cheltenham championship must wait for the weather. But both eight-year-olds did confirm their emerging class as they drew clear of Marlborough, who would have had to settle for third had he not fallen at the last, and Truckers Tavern, who took the minor place by default.

Nicholls was as much relieved as pleased with Valley Henry, whose winning run had come to an ignominious end in the mud at Prestbury Park last month but who showed his appreciation of lighter conditions yesterday as he bounded springheeled over the birch under Barry Geraghty. "I didn't think I was too bad a judge and I was gobsmacked when he ran like he did last time," said Nicholls. "But it was simply the ground, he never jumped a twig out of it. The ride Barry gave him today helped too, getting stuck in, being positive."

Valley Henry wandered in front on the run-in, allowing Chives to close, but once straightened and sent about his business he drew away again to win by two-and- a-half lengths, giving his rival 6lb. The bookmakers all cut his Gold Cup odds, with Coral's 20-1 the best on offer.

Chives' target is primarily the Grand National, for which he seems to have ideal credentials, not least the man on top, Richard Guest, who won the Aintree marathon on Red Marauder two years ago. "The horse is so honest, he jumps and he stays, and he's never run a bad race," said Knight. "Richard gets on so well with him and it is really him who has made him."

Valley Henry's win rounded off a fine afternoon for Nicholls, who had earlier supplied the first two in the other Grade Two contest, the Game Spirit Chase, though not in the anticipated order. Kadarann, at 5-1, came in eight lengths clear of Cenkos, the 5-6 favourite, but the result did nothing, as far as their trainer is concerned, to dent Cenkos's Queen Mother Champion Chase aspirations.

"You only had to look at them today," he said. "Kadarann was razor in his coat, Cenkos was not, and Cenkos always runs as he looks. Another month and a warm spring and you'll see a different horse. Don't anyone worry, he'll be thereabouts at Cheltenham." Cenkos was eased slightly, but still retains his place as second favourite, to Moscow Flyer, for the two-mile crown in most lists.

Kadarann is upsides him, having plummeted in price since being highlighted on a tipping line. "Someone is no doubt now thinking they've been very clever," said Nicholls with contempt, "but on his work at home there is no way you could have backed him. And it's horses for courses too; he is suited by a flat track and Cenkos is better somewhere like Cheltenham."

If yesterday was Kadarann's day of days, he did it with style, leading on the bit four out to give Joe Tizzard his best win since his return from his long lay-off recovering from a broken back. "There was never a moment when I didn't think he'd win," he said. "He jumped beautifully and felt so much stronger than when I last rode him. It's days like this that I've been looking forward to for the past 10 months."

Norman Williamson may have been disappointed when his intended mount Emotional Moment missed the cut for the £120,000 Tote Gold Trophy, the day's richest race, by one, but he still rode the winner. Transferred to another Irish raider, the Jessica Harrington-trained mare Spirit Leader (14-1), he foiled a gamble on Non So, getting the better of the 9-2 favourite by a length and a half after his mount's competitive instincts had been aided by the loose horse Calladine on the run-in.

Marcus Foley had a day to remember, riding out his claim on Slooghy in the three-mile handicap hurdle, while Best Mate's young brother, Cornish Rebel, is now favourite for the Cheltenham Festival bumper after winning the finale.

But with the greatest respect to the competitors here, their efforts were but the weekend's hors d'oeuvres. The main dish will be trolleyed at Leopardstown today, where rising Irish starlet Beef Or Salmon puts his unbeaten chasing record and his Gold Cup claims on the line in the Hennessy Cognac Gold Cup.