Indefatigable proved too strong in bet365 Hurdle for Paul Webber and Daryl Jacob; Proschema travelled strongly before finishing second; Stayers' Hurdle hero Paisley Park stayed on to finish third
Saturday 30 October 2021 15:15, UK
Trainer Paul Webber enjoyed a day in the Yorkshire sun as Cheltenham Festival winner Indefatigable landed the Grade Two bet365 Hurdle at Wetherby in convincing fashion.
The eight-year-old mare - who won the Martin Pipe Conditional Handicap Hurdle in 2020 - travelled strongly into contention alongside Dan Skelton's Proschema, staying on best of all to run out a comfortable three-length winner.
2019 Stayers' Hurdle winner Paisley Park finished third for Aidan Coleman and Emma Lavelle, having been under pressure throughout the final mile before running on strongly in the final stages.
Earlier on the card, Molly Ollys Wishes landed the Listed bet365 Mares' Hurdle in dominant fashion, kicking clear around the final turn for what turned out to be an unassailable lead for the in-form Dan and Harry Skelton double-act.
Fiveandtwenty led in the early stages before giving way to the seven-year-old mare who was asked to quicken with over three furlongs to run and soon put the race to bed with accurate jumps over the last two flights to win by five lengths.
Miranda was a well-beaten second for Paul Nicholls and Harry Cobden, with Marie's Rock back in third for Nicky Henderson.
Speaking after the race, trainer Dan Skelton said: That was brilliant, magic really. I just thought we'd try her over two (miles) because when I looked at the entries on Monday and saw that the West Yorkshire hurdle was filling up, I just thought she was going to have a really hard race on her first time out.
"She's best just rolling on over two, you can get in a bit of a muddle when you try to restrict her. It just worked out really well, Harry's given her a great ride.
"She was always going to Kempton on the 22nd for the Listed over three (miles), I don't see any reason to change.
"We've always hoped she could go down the Roksana route, last year it actually suited her that Roksana was around because it was a year too soon and we couldn't send her down it. She's now ready for it.
"I can imagine her going to Kempton, we might try the Long Walk and then the Warfield at a Ascot. That's her Gold Cup."
