Wendigo delivered an assured, professional display to justify his short price at the Scottish track on Thursday 29 January.
Sent off the 1/5 favourite against just two rivals, Maximillian and Donny Boy, Wendigo was settled in third by Gavin Sheehan as the trio jumped the opening two fences. He travelled and jumped with real fluency, quickly finding a better rhythm than his opponents. Along the back straight he outjumped them to move into the lead, taking control and making the running with his ears pricked. From six fences out, Wendigo and Gavin began to assert their authority, producing two excellent leaps to pull clear by around eight lengths. He then jumped the remaining four fences in the home straight safely and comfortably, stretching away to score in a canter by twenty two lengths. Maximillian finished second, while Donny Boy was pulled up.
After the race, jockey Gavin Sheehan gave us his verdict on the performance:
“That was lovely. The front horse was jamming on at the fences so I took the lead, he had his ears pricked and was labouring a bit in front, looking for opposition. He jumped great and had the race put to bed fairly quickly. All roads lead to Cheltenham and I would say he’ll be looking forward to it too. That was a good round of jumping and a good confidence booster.”
Trainer Jamie Snowden reported after the race:
“Delighted with that, just what we wanted after two hard races at Newbury and Kempton. It was nice to get a confidence boosting run going into the spring festivals. He jumped really well and when Gav injected a bit of pace into the race, it was over and he just had to jump and come home in his own time. We will freshen him up and get him ready for the spring festivals.”
It was a really impressive round of jumping and an excellent stepping stone towards the Brown Advisory at the Cheltenham Festival. Wendigo looks the standout British novice chaser over three miles and a major player for the race. It was a fantastic day at Ayr for his owners, and we look forward to many more enjoyable days with him.
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