Eider Chase: Kitty's Light stays on strong at Newcastle under Jack Tudor to give Christian Williams back-to-back wins
Kitty's Light (7/4 favourite) beat The Galloping Bear and No Cruise Yet to win Vertem Eider Chase at Newcastle on Saturday; jockey Jack Tudor had to overcome significant saddle slip to win marathon four-mile contest for Christian Williams
Saturday 25 February 2023 17:18, UK
Jack Tudor produced a stunning ride on the well-backed Kitty’s Light to make it back-to-back Eider Chase victories for trainer Christian Williams.
Sent off the 7/4 favourite after looking well treated for the marathon four-mile-and-one-furlong test at Newcastle, Kitty's Light came from well back after a shuddering error left Tudor's saddle out of place.
Despite the obvious inconvenience, Tudor never gave up as he drew alongside Ben Jones on The Galloping Bear.
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Stamina then came to the fore as Kitty's Light battled past, giving Williams another day to remember after Win My Wings took the famous prize 12 months ago before going on to Scottish National success.
The Galloping Bear finished two-and-a-half lengths back in second, clear of No Cruise Yet and Eva's Oskar.
Tudor told Sky Sports Racing: "He takes a bit of knowing this lad and his jumping is not his main asset but the one thing you know is that once he gets going he'll come home.
"Luckily we passed a few turning in and then I knew we'd hit the line well.
"He deserves a big win because he seems to always be runner-up and very unlucky. Thankfully, it's all come together today."
Speaking from Kempton, Williams said: "I'm delighted. It was a great ride for good owners. The ground was a bit messy and he made hard work of it, but we've got plenty of faith in him and you can never write him off.
"He does his best work in the latter stages of a race. He's got a Flat pedigree and is not bred to be jumping fences and running over four miles!
"He's a brilliant little horse. All the stats said he couldn't win with his age and this and that, but he's a freak so I didn't take much notice.
"We know how hard it is to win that type of race. We won it with Win My Wings last year, who probably had 20-odd pounds in hand. We thought we had Kitty's Light mapped out for it, but you don't just go up there and win that type of race, so I'm proud of the horse and Jack everyone who travelled up there.
"I think we've got two options now, the Scottish National and the bet365 Gold Cup. We'll have a sit down and speak to the owners and see which race will suit him.
"He ran in both races last year, but this year they're only a week apart so I think we will target one or the other.
"We left him in the Midlands National at the first stage as we were worried about the ground at Newcastle, but I would have thought he'll be taken out of that now."
