 Sam Thomas guided Nacarat to victory at Wetherby |
Sam Thomas guided galloping grey Nacarat to victory in the Charlie Hall Chase at Wetherby on Saturday. The 6-1 chance, trained by Tom George, finished ahead of The Tother One and last year's winner Deep Purple. Earlier, Fair Along (6-1) stuck on gamely to claim a second consecutive win in the John Smith's Hurdle at Wetherby from Kayf Aramis. Meanwhile, Ireland's highly-rated Captain Cee Bee (9-10f) jumped superbly to win the Poplar Square Chase at Naas. At Ascot, Massini's Maguire (8-1) held off Take The Breeze to land the United House Gold Cup. George said a new training regime had helped with shoulder problems suffered by the 2009 Racing Post Chase winner Nacarat. The nine-year-old is now on course for a Kempton rematch with Kauto Star on Boxing Day in the King George VI Chase, in which he finished fourth last year.  | 606: DEBATE |
"We've had a much easier preparation with him this year and I'm delighted the hard work everyone has put in has done the trick," said George. "He has worked just like a normal horse in the past but now he's working like a good horse and I hope there is a lot more to come, as he will improve for this. "We'll obviously have to improve to get the better of Kauto, but without him I think we'd have been a good winner of the race last year. "We'll see how he is before we decide if he runs again before then." Massini's Maguire was cut to 14-1 from 33s by the sponsors for the Paddy Power Gold Cup in November after completing a double for Fair Along's owner Alan Peterson. At Naas, Captain Cee Bee produced the sort of performance that had trainer Eddy Lynam and jockey Mark Walsh thinking of the Queen Mother Champion Chase at the Cheltenham Festival in March. Walsh, replacing Tony McCoy who was in action at Ascot, said: "I still don't think you have seen the best of this horse yet. "I've never ridden a Champion Chase horse but he feels like one to me."
Bet365 Charlie Hall Chase 3m 1f, Wetherby
1 Nacarat (Tom George) Sam Thomas 6-1 2 The Tother One 9-4f 3 Deep Purple 15-2.
Dist: 4, 2½. 8 ran
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