Big Buck's in the money at Newbury

Big Buck's

It looked an easy enough race on paper and it was not much different on turf.

Big Buck’s began his season with an easy win in the Grade Two sportingbet.com Long Distance Hurdle at Newbury.
Tony McCoy became the latest stand-in jockey for the Paul Nicholls stable – replacing Noel Fehily, who had broken his wrist in a fall at the track 24 hours earlier – but it did not take a champion jockey’s ride to win on this one.

The champion staying hurdler had to concede 8lb to the rest of the field for his victory in last season’s World Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival, but given that the disparity in terms of the ability of the opposition was rated between 20 and 94lbs it was little wonder that he was only viable for those who put the money on by the lorry load.

McCoy was almost taking a pull at the start of the home turn on Big Buck’s, who is liable to stop on a sixpence once he hits the front and thinks that the job is done. So he waited as Kayf Aramis led into the home straight and jumping the third-last, Barry Geraghty was trying to give the impression that he was holding a strong hand on Duc de Regniere. But a quick look at the body language of Tony McCoy made it quite obvious just who was holding all the aces.

When Big Buck’s did take up the running, jumping the final hurdle, McCoy did his best to win without leaving Big Buck’s in front for too long as the horse was already pricking his ears as if the job was done. While other jockeys were riding for their lives, McCoy was just quietly nudging his horse to put just a little more effort in as he beat Duc de Regniere by three lengths.

Nicholls was satisfied with a result that could only have been put in doubt by either an act of God or Big Buck’s. “He enjoyed himself and it was just what he wanted. He did everything right and won with his ears pricked but that’s just him. There’s loads in the tank and that was the perfect start to the season.”

The days when the Gerry Feilden Hurdle, now run as the sportingbet.com Intermediate Hurdle, was run as a Champion Hurdle trial have long since receded.

However Tocca Ferro, trained by Emma Lavelle and ridden by Sam Thomas, continued the progression that he showed when he won at Ascot last time out. He was always travelling for Thomas as he ranged upsides Praxiteles at the second-last.

Tocca Ferro jumped the last a couple of lengths clear but this was not the ground for show-boating and Thomas had to keep him up to the job to beat Rebel Dancer.

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Paul Wheeler

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