Galway Jack fortunate winner of Southwell Monday feature
Fortune favoured Galway Jack as he made virtually all the running to take the feature race at Southwell on Monday.
Last Updated: 03/03/14 5:39pm
Andrew Thornton's mount was headed just once, going to the final fence by Green Wizard, but that horse came down which left Galway Jack in the clear.
Caroline Bailey's 7-4 favourite passed the line a length and three-quarters in front of Balzaccio.
"You can't go without the luck," said Thornton. "He enjoys being up there. He gets three miles well, so two and a half miles on testing ground I had to make plenty of use of him and he jumped well.
"I probably jumped a bit quicker than him (Green Wizard) at the third-last and the second-last, but he kept coming back at me. It's all about jumping."
Barton Rose made light of top weight in the Play Blackjack And Roulette At totepool.com Novices' Handicap Hurdle.
Noel Fehily weaved his way through the field on the 4-5 favourite, trained by Neil Mulholland, to lead before the final flight and go on to score by two and a half lengths from Alaccordion.
Fehily said: "She travelled well. She was getting tired at the end, but she jumps and has a great attitude. You can always find races for mares like that."
Fehily completed a double when steering My Oh Mount Brown (4-1) to victory in the 20 New Casino Games At totepool.com Handicap Hurdle on his first run for local trainer Alan McCabe.
The former Tim Vaughan inmate pulled away after two out to win by three and a half lengths from Sky Watch.
McCabe said: "Tim's done a great job. He sent him to me in great condition, fit and well. He's been with me about a month.
"A change is as good as a rest, but we didn't have to do a whole lot with him, really.
"The owners (Craig and Maureen Buckingham) live in Retford, hence why they wanted the horse this way because down in Wales as a long way for them to go."
Lord Navits (4-11 favourite) completed a 19-day hat-trick with an all-the-way win in the Best Odds Guaranteed At totepool.com Novices' Chase.
Though the David Bridgwater-trained six-year-old was not entirely foot-perfect, his supporters who took the skinny odds barely had an anxious moment as he powered to victory by nine lengths over Elsafeer.
"He got in close to a few fences, but he's done it pretty easily," said his rider Alain Cawley.
"When you win like that, you can't really knock him."
Cloud Creeper (even-money favourite) got off the mark after finishing second in his last three starts with a convincing success in the We'll Double Your Deposit At totepool Casino "National Hunt" Novices' Hurdle.
Leading two out, Philip Hobbs' charge pulled clear under Richard Johnson to defeat Mondo Cane by 10 lengths.
"He's done very little wrong. He'd been second a few times, so you wonder if they are ever going to win, but he's done it nicely. On better ground he'll be better again," Johnson told At The Races.
Wordy's Boy (12-1), made all of the running for trainer Charles Pogson and his jockey-son, Adam, to claim the Download The totepool Live Info App Handicap Hurdle by nine lengths as the outsider of five runners.
"He had two years off with the touch of a leg. It's fantastic. He just goes from the front and jumps," said the jockey.
Celtic Agent (7-2) breezed home in the concluding bumper under Adam Nicol for trainer Philip Kirby.