Corrigeen Rock (7/2) & Rubaud (2/1) OJA winners

Champions day at Ascot dominated the headlines on Saturday with Frankie Dettori taking centre stage. The Italian was riding in the UK for the last time this year and he couldn't have gone out in better fashion booting home a double aboard Trawlerman and King of Steel. It proved to be an excellent day for the North with Art Power, Poptronic and The Gatekeeper all scoring at huge odds. Bluestocking's defeat in the Group 1 Fillies and Mares' Stakes summed up here season. The daughter of Camelot has failed to win any of her six races as a three year old losing out by a head, half a length and a neck twice in four of those. Fitted with cheekpieces for the first time, she was held up with plenty to do before making headway in the homestraight. Denied by a neck by the aforementioned Poptronic, she is expected to stay in training next year and will hopefully gain a win at the highest level. 

Paul Nicholls' interview in One Jump Ahead provided three winners over the weekend, including Rubaud's all the way win in the Listed hurdle at Kempton on Sunday. Last season's Scottish Champion Hurdle winner was returning from a break of 183 days and is rated 141. The Air Chief Marshall gelding is very much at home on flat right handed tracks and he stayed on strongly after the last to beat the race fit Too Friendly by nearly three lengths conceding six pounds. The champion trainer indicated on page 104 of OJA that the ex-French gelding could head for the Elite Hurdle at Wincanton (11th November). 

The other performance of note at the Sunbury track was that of Corrigeen Rock in the two miles two handicap chase. Another who is well suited by racing right-handed, Lucinda Russell's gelding won three times over fences last term and he began the new campaign with a terrific effort. Jumping boldly, he was headed after the third last but regained the advantage on the run-in. Scoring by a length and a quarter off a mark of 132, it will be interesting to see if he is steered towards the Desert Orchid Chase at the same track (27th December), which is now a handicap. His jumping alone will ensure the Westerner gelding wins plenty more races.

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