Tag Archive for: Fakir D’Oudairies

Fakir D’oudairies has Marsh Chase hat-trick in his sights

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Fakir D’oudairies has the chance to create history at Aintree on Friday as he bids to become the first three-time winner of the Marsh Chase.

Joseph O’Brien’s charge became the sixth horse to claim back-to-back victories in the two-and-a-half-mile Grade One 12 months ago after Viking Flagship (1995 and 1996), Direct Route (1999 and 2000), Native Upmanship (2002 and 2003), Moscow Flyer (2004 and 2005) and Voy Por Ustedes (2008 and 2009).

Having won a race better known as the Melling Chase by 11 lengths in 2021 and five and a half last season, the the JP McManus-owned eight-year-old returns to Merseyside for the hat-trick bid fresh, having sidestepped last month’s Cheltenham Festival.

Fakir D’oudairies was a little disappointing when last seen finishing a well-beaten third behind Shishkin in defence of his Ascot Chase crown in February and is interestingly fitted with cheekpieces for the first time on Friday.

O’Brien said: “He’s in good shape and we’re looking forward to going back there with him.

“We know he likes the track and he’s going there fresh, so we’re hopeful of a good run anyway.”

Fakir D’oudairies is one of two Irish contenders along with the Mouse Morris-trained French Dynamite.

The eight-year-old was best of the rest behind the O’Brien runner in a Grade Two at Thurles in January and was beaten less than six lengths when fourth in last month’s Ryanair Chase at Cheltenham.

French Dynamite (right) finishing second in the Paddy Power Gold Cup at Cheltenham in November
French Dynamite (right) finishing second in the Paddy Power Gold Cup at Cheltenham in November (David Davies/Jockey Club)

Morris had declared French Dynamite to run at Fairyhouse over the Easter weekend, but pulled him out due to the rain-softened ground.

He said: “He won’t run if it’s soft, but hopefully it should be all right.

“He seems fine. You never until you run them, but he hasn’t missed a beat since Cheltenham anyway.

“His form is there. He was second to Joseph’s horse and Hitman was just in front of him in Cheltenham.”

Paul Nicholls saddles Pic D’Orhy, who was seven lengths ahead of Fakir D’oudairies when runner-up in the Ascot Chase, as well as Ryanair Chase third Hitman.

“Hitman put up arguably the finest performance of his career when third in the Ryanair Chase at Cheltenham a month ago, which came after another decent run at Newbury,” Nicholls told Betfair.

“After two quite hard races on the bounce we were deliberating whether to bypass Aintree and keep him for Sandown, but Hitman seems fine at home so we are rolling the dice again in the race in which he he was an excellent second to Fakir D’oudairies a year ago.

“Pic D’Orhy is among my favourites and has been in fantastic form this season, winning three Grade Two chases on the bounce before finishing second at Ascot to Shishkin, who looked unbeatable that day.

“We’ve deliberately kept him fresh for this race, he is in great shape and I think the track will suit him. Hopefully he has a really big chance.”

Fugitif is stepped up in class by Richard Hobson after finishing second to Seddon in the Magners Plate at the Festival, while Donald McCain’s Minella Drama also has his sights raised having secured handicap wins at Musselburgh and Kelso since the turn of the year.

The Alex Hales-trained Millers Bank, who won a Grade One novice chase over the course and distance last season, completes the line-up.

Fakir D’oudairies shoots for Ascot Chase double

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Fakir D’oudairies will bid to become the first back-to-back winner of the Betfair Ascot Chase since Riverside Theatre in 2011 and 2012 when he returns to Berkshire for Ascot’s feature on Saturday.

Joseph O’Brien’s eight-year-old saw off the persistent challenge of Two For Gold when triumphing 12 months ago and is sure to be popular once again in his quest for further Grade One success.

Four of his nine career victories have been at the highest level – and having chased home Cheltenham Gold Cup favourite Galopin Des Champs in the John Durkan before Christmas, he got back on the scoresheet in the Horse & Jockey Hotel Chase at Thurles last month.

Whether he would have beaten final-fence faller Haut En Couleurs that day is open to question, but either way O’Brien is happy with his condition ahead of his title defence.

“He’s in good shape and he’s been prepared for the race. It looks like it’s going to be a very good race, which is great, and we’re looking forward to competing in it,” said the Piltown handler.

“I think he was still in mix (at Thurles). JJ (Slevin, jockey) said he was going to give them a run for their money and that’s all you can ask for.”

Chief among the JP McManus-owned gelding’s rivals is Shishkin, who has 10lb in hand on official ratings but has questions to answer after disappointing in his two most recent outings.

O’Brien added: “I suppose Shishkin is a superstar on his day, but I think you can make a strong case for three or four horses in the race and we’re one of them.

“We know Ascot will suit our horse better than Thurles, so hopefully we get a smooth trip and we’ll see what happens from there.”

Trainer Nicky Henderson and Shishkin at Seven Barrows earlier this week
Trainer Nicky Henderson and Shishkin at Seven Barrows earlier this week (David Davies/PA)

Having won his first seven races over fences at around two miles, Shishkin takes a step into the unknown over two miles and five furlongs under rules this weekend, having previously won over three miles in point-to-point company.

The nine-year-old was pulled up in last season’s Queen Mother Champion Chase and looked ready for a rise in distance when a well-beaten third on his reappearance in the Tingle Creek at Sandown.

Although Nicky Henderson’s charge has won twice at the Cheltenham Festival, his finest hour arguably came at this track last year and his big-race rider Nico de Boinville is looking for signs of a resurgence from the son of Sholokhov, who has undergone wind surgery since his last run.

“I just want him to travel away. In the Tingle Creek I was flat out the whole way,” the jockey told talkSPORT2.

“It wasn’t until we brought him back and worked him up our gallop that he flipped his palate at the top of our gallops. He’s had his palate cauterized and hopefully that will have done the trick.

“Hopefully he should be able to travel away and enjoy his racing again. It was hard enough at Cheltenham when he ran with a rare bone condition. Mostly I just want him to enjoy racing again.

“The bone condition was like running a car with four flat tyres. I knew going to the first I was in trouble but I immediately put it down to the ground, but when you look back that didn’t make sense as he’d won on all sorts of ground so it wasn’t that.

“It’s a case of him learning to get over that bad experience and loving racing again.

“If he’s back to his best he should win, on paper, but he has to enjoy himself and get back into some sort of rhythm to make his and my life a bit easier.”

Henderson told Unibet: “This is obviously a very big day for him and we are stepping up in trip which is what I think he wants. Lots has already been said which doesn’t really need repeating over and over again so I’ll leave it to Shishkin to do the talking and see where we are at 3.45pm tomorrow!”

Pic D’Orhy winning the Peterborough Chase at Huntingdon
Pic D’Orhy winning the Peterborough Chase at Huntingdon (Tim Goode/PA)

Paul Nicholls can become the outright leading trainer in the history of the Ascot Chase if Pic D’Orhy continues his winning streak.

Unbeaten this season, the eight-year-old has won Grade Twos at both Huntingdon and Kempton and the champion trainer is hopeful he can continue on his upward curve.

“I think that was one of his best performances (at Kempton) because we weren’t convinced about the ground,” said the Ditcheat handler.

“He is a much better horse on good ground and I see Ascot’s now gone good, good to soft in places so I assume Nicky has been on the phone all week asking them to water! There’s plenty of water gone on, but everybody will be happy with that – good, good to soft in places.

“It’s ideal for him and we’re looking forward to the challenge. It’s probably the biggest race of his career, but he’s up for it.”

Kim Bailey saddled the runner-up in last year’s renewal and now looks to First Flow to go one better at a course where he has never finished outside of the first three.

He said: “It’s a tough, competitive race and we’re all wrong at the weights. We’re very limited in where we can go and there is only one other race for him at Sandown on the last day of the season.

“He handled goodish ground at Huntingdon and this will be much quicker than he ideally wants, but having said that, we need to run and we need to go.

“He has been round the course several times and every time he has gone there he has run well, so if he can finish in the first three I would be delighted.”

Millers Bank in action at Aintree
Millers Bank in action at Aintree (Steven Paston/PA)

Millers Bank was well held in the King George on Boxing Day, but trainer Alex Hales feels his Aintree Grade One winner could be overlooked dropping back in distance.

“I’m looking forward to him running,” said Hales. “We were slightly underwhelmed by his run in the King George and he came back and was a little quiet after it, but he seems in very good heart now.

“We know he’s proven over two and a half, so it looks the right thing to do. It’s a competitive race but he deserves to take his chance.

“Pic D’Orhy has beaten us twice but that has been on flat, sharper tracks and I’m hoping that Ascot over an extra furlong might see us in a different light.”

The field is rounded off by by Harriet Graham and Gary Rutherford’s popular northern raider Aye Right, who takes his chance at Grade One level.

“It was an idea we had to take him out of handicaps because he is nearly always carrying top weight up against progressive handicappers,” said Graham.

“There are some classy horses in it, but I have always thought he would enjoy running right-handed and Ryan Mania was very keen that we take him down there – he comes and rides out for us and is a very good judge.

“I know we are the outsider but the owners were also keen to take him down, so we thought we would have a go.”

Fakir D’oudairies prevails in dramatic Thurles feature

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Fakir D’oudairies seized the opportunity to go one better than last season and claim an incident-packed renewal of Horse & Jockey Hotel Chase at Thurles.

Joseph O’Brien’s gelding finished second behind Allaho last term and was the 7-4 favourite on his return to the track under JJ Slevin.

In the Grade Two he travelled prominently but tailed the strong-finishing Haut En Couleurs and French Dynamite turning into the home straight.

The former looked have the race under control – but a final-flight fall ended his hopes while French Dynamite made a serious mistake behind him.

Fakir D’oudairies then swept through to take up the lead and crossed the line six lengths ahead.

Chacun Pour Soi had moved with promise for a long way, before dropping away quite tamely.

“He got a little lost around the turn and was galloping down the straight but obviously the horse in front fell, although we were coming for a challenge anyway,” O’Brien said.

“I was very pleased with the performance and pleased with how he jumped and it sets him up nicely for the spring. He was giving away weight and I feel as he is getting older, it is taking a bit more work to get him there.

“He is a young horse and over his career has been fantastic and always runs his race. He tries and is a great horse to have in the yard. Today’s race was a good one, they went a good gallop and it was a deep field so I’m very pleased.

“He will potentially go back to Ascot for the Grade One he won last year (Ascot Chase) and then we’ll look at the Ryanair Chase and Aintree. I suppose all those options will be left open.”