By Andrew Atkinson
Paul Nicholls trained Clan Des Obeaux tipped by fromthehorsesmouth.info won the G1 Betway Bowl 3m Chase in spectacular fashion on day one of the Aintree festival on Thursday, under jockey Harry Cobden for co-owner Sir Alex Ferguson.
“Cheekpieces made the difference and Harry rode a great race,” said delighted former Man United gaffer Fergie.
Clan Des Obeaux (5-2) gained an emphatic 26 lengths victory: “He was in great form. He stays and today brought the best out of him,” said Cobden.
“We were left alone in front. Brilliant. The Cheekpieces were on, on the big day. It’s great to have him back in top form – he popped the last and took off,” added Cobden.
Nicholls said: “It was probably one of his best performances. An amazing day. It was good to get ‘Clan’ right today.”
Clan Des Obeaux, 5-2 favourite beat Clondaw Castle (13-2) with Native River (4-1), third. Tiger Roll (8-1) finished unplaced fourth.
Monmiral (10-11) tipped by fromthehorsesmouth.info gained a fourth consecutive win in the G1 Doom Bar Juvenile Hurdle over 2m chalking up a 7 1/2 lengths victory over Adagio (13-8) under Harry Cobden, for owners Sir Alex Ferguson, Ged Mason and John Hales.
Cobden said: “He’s a proper Grade 1 horse and the best juvenile I’ve sat on. He travels well and jumps great – he’s probably beaten the best English juvenile, he’s top class.”
