Gauvain holds off Somersby challenge

GAUVAIN (15-2) was an impressive winner of the Betfred Peterborough Chase for Nick Williams and Noel Fehily at Huntingdon yesterday, as favourite Somersby had to settle for second.

A faller in the Tingle Creek at Sandown on Saturday, the winner showed no ill effects and was always coasting through the race. Fehily asked him to take up the running rounding the turn for home as the pace-setter Mr Moonshine began to tire and the result was never in doubt thereafter.

Henrietta Knight’s Somersby was bidding to give his trainer a ninth win in the race but Dominic Elsworth began to get busy at the third-last and despite staying on in the run-in, he was four-and-a-half lengths away. Mr Moonshine held off Hidden Keel for third.

Paul Nicholls’ The Nightingale was an early faller while Surfing was also a casualty.

Andy Corbett, Williams’ assistant, said: “He hadn’t gone very far last Saturday so we thought it was worth running him again.

“We’ll have to see how he is regarding targets for the rest of season. He does tend to run best fresh so the Ascot Chase is a possibility as he was second in that last year and you’d imagine the Ryanair again.”

Knight said of Somersby: “I don’t think he ran a bad race. We thought two and a half would be right for him but it seems like he’s now more of a three-mile horse and we’ll probably look at the King George.”

Meanwhile, Tony McCoy has thrown a spanner in the works ahead of the Spinal Research The Atlantic 4 Gold Cup by electing to ride Sunnyhillboy instead of Quantitativeeasing at Cheltenham on Saturday.

It had been presumed the champion jockey would be riding Nicky Henderson’s Quantitativeeasing after the gelding finished second in the Paddy Power Gold Cup last month. He is better off at the weights with the winner, Great Endeavour, and Henderson has issued upbeat reports. However, McCoy has chosen to ride Sunnyhillboy for Jonjo O’Neill, who finished third in the Irish National last season.

As both horses are owned by his retainer, JP McManus, McCoy had the choice but a word in his ear from O’Neill appears to have had the desired effect.

“AP was riding the other horse and I didn’t sway him, but I said to him the horse is in great form and we’re thrilled to bits with him at home,” said O’Neill. Barry Geraghty rides Quantitativeeasing instead.