Dysart Enos floors Queens Gamble in smart Market Rasen bumper
Dysart Enos reeled in the previously unbeaten Queens Gamble to land the Alan Swinbank Mares’ Standard Open National Hunt Flat Race in good style at Market Rasen.
Sent off the 3-1 second-favourite to claim the scalp of Oliver Sherwood’s 8-11 favourite, the Fergal O’Brien-trained daughter of Malinas was well covered up in rear by Paddy Brennan in the early stages of the Listed event.
Queens Gamble, who was well touted for the Champion Bumper prior this contest, travelled powerfully in the hands of Jonathan Burke and breezed past the pace-setter Woogrey rounding the turn for home.
Burke soon pressed the accelerator and Queens Gamble’s turn of foot saw her burst clear up the Market Rasen home straight.
Dysart Enos takes the scalp of Queens Gamble in the Listed feature with the pair clear at @MarketRasenRace.
The winner is two from two under Rules ad looks a lovely prospect for @fergalobrien07 and @PaddyBrennan81 🏇 pic.twitter.com/kl3cc4chi6
— Racing TV (@RacingTV) February 7, 2023
But her stride was shortening as the line approached at the same time Brennan was hitting top gear aboard Dysart Enos and it was only a matter of time before the five-year-old gained the upper hand.
An impressive winner at Ludlow prior to her trip to Lincolnshire, she returned a going away one-length verdict and was handed a quote of 10-1 by Paddy Power to now seek Grade One glory at the Cheltenham Festival.
O’Brien, though, was quick to rule the Festival out.
He said: “I thought we’d come and finish second to her (Queens Gamble), I spoke to Oliver on Sunday morning as I wanted Connor (Brace) to come and ride her and Paddy to go to Taunton. He’s 41 and he insisted on coming here because these are the horses he wants to ride.
Here’s Queens Gamble, still headed for the Champion Bumper at the Cheltenham Festival pic.twitter.com/1fS8KGVbu1
— Molly Hunter (@mollhun) February 7, 2023
“He said he got a bump just as they turned into the home straight and got pushed a bit sideways, but all the way down the straight she just had her head down and was trying. He never picked his stick up on her and he got to the road crossing and thought she was travelling, he always felt he was getting the leader and he had something to aim at.
“Paddy’s ridden so many bumper winners for us here, just like that. He rides this place so well, he knows it so well.”
He added: “She was fantastic, we’ve got her ready three times for this race three times now and each time we’ve had to back off her, but it’s the same for them all.
“Queens Gamble is still a fantastic mare and I genuinely thought we couldn’t beat her, we had a line drawn through her because of Bonttay – Bonttay’s very good and we didn’t think this mare was as good as her but we might have to reconsider that!
“One hundred per cent, Aintree. We won’t even enter at Cheltenham because people get tempted. It was always the plan with her, if she came here and finished second or third we’d go to Aintree. That’s been her season.
“She’s 16.2(hands), she’ll jump a hurdle, she’ll jump a fence, she’s so exciting.”
For his part, Sherwood was gracious in defeat – and not giving up on a Cheltenham bid.
He said: “I hate being beat, she was always the one I feared. It was always going to happen one day, that we would get beat, but I’d rather get beat here and win at Cheltenham.
“I’m not going to be deterred from going to Cheltenham, we know she’s better at Cheltenham and she hasn’t run to her form. Giving 4lb, I suppose it was a dead-heat.
“The one thing today was that she probably ran a little bit with the choke out because Johnny said there was no pace. It’s all part of her education and she’s gone down fighting, it was going to happen at some stage.
“It’s always gutting to get beaten when you’ve got an odds-on shot, but it is what it is. She’s still a good mare, you don’t become a bad horse overnight. I still think that we’re OK, as long as the weather is kind to us, we’ll still go the Cheltenham and have a crack at it. We’ve got nothing to lose.
“We know she gallops all the way to the line, he’s (Burke) now a bit annoyed and thinks he should have held on to her and kicked. The one thing with Cheltenham is you’ll get a true-run race, they’ll go end to end and it’ll suit her down to the ground.”
