Harry Fry was delighted and relieved in equal measure after seeing stable star Gidleigh Park get his season back on track with a front-running victory in the Fitzdares Lightning Novices’ Chase at Windsor.
However, despite having to settle for second place aboard Caldwell Potter, it was also good news for jockey Harry Cobden as two runner-up finishes saw him move into second place in the David Power Jockeys’ Cup standings.
Always held in the highest regard by his trainer, Gidleigh Park won a Chepstow bumper and his first three starts over hurdles before finishing sixth in the Albert Bartlett at last season’s Cheltenham Festival.
He was an odds-on favourite to make a successful switch to chasing at Kempton in November, but was pulled up after jumping five fences and was later found to be suffering from a fibrillating heart.
As a result, Gidleigh Park lined up in this Grade Two contest as a 15-2 outsider of four under Bryan Carver, but it was clear from an early stage he was enjoying the task, as he set a strong gallop from flag-fall that only 4-6 favourite Caldwell Potter was able to live with.
Grade One-winning hurdler Caldwell Potter, a €740,000 purchase on behalf of an ownership group that includes Sir Alex Ferguson, loomed up looking a big danger early in the home straight, but Gidleigh Park kept galloping out in front and was well on top as he passed the post with four lengths in hand.
At the end of the first day of the Winter Millions Meeting, Harry Skelton tops the leaderboard with 194 points, but a pair of runner-up finishes for Cobden was enough to see him move into second place on 170, just ahead of Nico de Boinville on 168.