Kitty’s Light fantastic for Williams in Eider Chase
Kitty’s Light secured the big-race victory he has long promised with a determined display in the Vertem Eider Handicap Chase at Newcastle.
The Christian Williams-trained seven-year-old was unfortunate not to land the 2021 bet365 Gold Cup at Sandown after controversial finish and he has since been placed in the Charlie Hall at Wetherby, the Coral Trophy at Kempton, the Scottish Grand National at Ayr and the bet365 Gold Cup for a second time.
Having fallen down the weights following a disappointing run of form so far this season, Kitty’s Light was the 7-4 favourite to bounce back at Gosforth Park – but his supporters were made to sweat before eventually collecting their winnings.
Jockey Jack Tudor was hard at work in the saddle at various stages of the four-one-mile-furlong contest, while Kitty’s Light was far from convincing at a number of fences on the way round.
A proper celebration for the Kitty's Light team at @NewcastleRaces! @CWilliamsRacing 🎉 pic.twitter.com/MzUpCHZq6k
— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) February 25, 2023
But to his credit, the Nathaniel gelding managed to keep himself in contention and his huge reserves of stamina kicked in from the home turn and he kept on dourly from the final fence to get up and beat The Galloping Bear by two and a half lengths.
Williams, claiming back-to-back Eider wins following the comfortable success of Win My Wings 12 months ago, 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.”
Kitty’s Light was cut to 5-1 from 10-1 for the Midlands Grand National at Uttoxeter on March 18, but appears unlikely to take his chance.
“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,” Williams added.
“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.”
