Taurus Bay takes Rising Stars Chase as favourite fades
Taurus Bay wins Aintree's Grade 2 Rising Stars Novices' Chase for Ben Pauling, beating Talk To The Man as odds-on favourite No Drama This End finishes fourth.
JTW Equine Images - Alamy
Taurus Bay gave Ben Pauling and Ben Jones victory in the Grade 2 Rising Stars Novices' Chase at Aintree on Saturday, defeating Talk To The Man by a length and a quarter as odds-on favourite No Drama This End faded into fourth on his first start over fences.
The five-year-old, sent off at 13-2, travelled in touch with the leaders through the two-mile-four-furlong contest and moved into contention approaching the final two fences. Jones took the lead before the last, where Talk To The Man mounted a challenge, but Taurus Bay found enough to hold his rival on the run-in.
Talk To The Man, ridden by Harry Skelton for Dan Skelton, finished second at 10-3. Alan King's Favour And Fortune was another seven lengths back in third, with No Drama This End two and a quarter lengths behind him. Four horses contested the race after the withdrawals of Chanceawetmorning and Off The Jury.
The result was a useful early indication of Taurus Bay's potential over fences. The gelding had been absent from the racecourse for 241 days and faced rivals with strong novice-hurdle form. His ability to settle into the race and sustain his challenge after the last contrasted with the fortunes of the favourite, whose jumping debut had attracted considerable interest.
No Drama This End, trained by Paul Nicholls and ridden by Sam Twiston-Davies, led for much of the contest. He still held an advantage approaching the third-last fence but came under pressure as the field closed on him. Having lost the lead before the final obstacle, he weakened on the run-in and finished last of the four.
The favourite's defeat does not, on its own, settle his prospects as a chaser. He was making his first competitive appearance over fences after a break of almost seven months, and the race represented a different examination from his previous hurdles assignments. Connections have not confirmed whether his next run will be at a similar distance or in a different grade.
For Pauling, the victory adds a graded novice chase to the stable's early-season results and gives Taurus Bay a platform from which to progress. The rearranged Aintree meeting, assembled after unsuitable ground forced the cancellation of fixtures at Exeter and Wincanton, preserved several important early-season contests and provided a competitive setting for the winner's return.
No immediate target has been announced for Taurus Bay. His performance at Aintree, however, suggests that further opportunities in novice company should be available as the winter programme develops.
By TP Editorial
Follow Thoroughbred People
Comments
Have your say. Please keep it civil and on the subject.
Loading comments…