Friday 12 December 2014 17:20, UK
A round-up of the rest of Friday's action at Cheltenham where Martin Keighley advertised his skills with a double.
Locla trainer Martin Keighley was left celebrating after Benbane Head made every yard of the running to take the Majordomo Hospitality Handicap Chase before Any Currency won the Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase to complete a double.
Keighley's recent luck was summed up when Richard Johnson took the wrong course on Benbane Head just seven days ago, incurring a 12-day ban in the process.
However, at the head of affairs throughout here under Conor Shoemark, the result was never really in much doubt as Benbane Head beat 4/1 favourite The Ould Lad by nine lengths.
Keighley said: "He stays so well than I thought four miles at Exeter was perfect for him but he wouldn't have run in this if he'd finished last week - this was not the plan!
"I felt sorry for Richard for getting such a long ban last week as it was a mistake anybody could have made and it hit him hard. Mind you, I just saw him and he said I should be grateful for the racecourse gallop he gave him last week!
"I'm not sure what's been wrong with the horses, all the tests have been clean but they've been running below our expectations."
Things got even better for Keighley when Any Currency (8/1), runner-up at the Festival last year, won the Glenfarclas Cross Country Handicap Chase for Aidan Coleman.
"It's been a great afternoon. The horses haven't been running to form, but they've bounced back, which is fantastic," said Keighley
"That's the way to ride him. Normally it's a crazy thing to do, kicking on early over four miles, but he stays forever and he gave him a great ride.
"We probably won't even run him again (before the Festival). We'll just come straight back here in March."
There was a sad postscript to the race as former Festival winner Big Shu suffered a fatal injury.
Philip Hobbs may have been out of luck with Sausalito Sunrise but he proved his string remain in the rudest of health as Al Alfa fought back tenaciously to win the Shloer Conditional Jockeys' Handicap Chase.
Prominent throughout, he jumped well for James Best but appeared a sitting duck as Buck Mulligan loomed large on his outside.
The game looked up for Al Alfa (13/2) as Evan Williams' Buck Mulligan kicked on, but Best sensed his rival was weakening and managed to get a renewed effort from his mount to win by a head.
"We might try him over three miles now, looking at that (two miles and five furlongs) he'll certainly stay," said Hobbs.
"I never imagined he'd be a Cheltenham winner, but it might not have been the strongest of races."
Hobbs was narrowly denied a double when Cesarewitch winner Big Easy finished second yet again this season in the Citipost Handicap Hurdle, this time to Alan King's Ulzana's Raid (9/2).
It was nip and tuck up the hill but Ulzana's Raid defied a 7lb rise for his victory at the track in October to give Wayne Hutchinson a winner on his return from injury.
"I can't wait to go over fences with him, but that can wait for now," said King.
"We had him in the Relkeel Hurdle (Saturday), but obviously he was way wrong at the figures. I won't over-race him this year and have no specific plan."
Starluck (6/1) showed a resolution he had perhaps not been known for in the past to win the CF Roberts Electrical + Mechanical Services Handicap Hurdle.
David Arbuthnot's nine-year-old was fourth in Zaynar's Triumph Hurdle and fifth behind Binocular in the 2010 Champion Hurdle but injuries have hampered his career,
Nursed back to health by Arbuthnot, he was still carrying top weight and Nico de Boinville produced him after the last to beat Goohar by a head.
The runner-up also gave him a nudge which may have complicated matters had Starluck not battled to victory.
"Going out Nico said he thought the ground would be too soft but he said he actually handled it well," said Arbuthnot.
"He's had so many problems he probably needs a bit of cut these days. e'll see what the handicapper does but I'm inclined to send him back over fences. He lost his confidence the last time he ran over them but he's been schooling brilliantly at home again."
An interesting British Stallion Studs EBF National Hunt Novices' Hurdle was claimed by 5/1 shot Seedling, who was without a win in three events for Charles Egerton last season but is now three from three for Warren Greatrex.
He reeled in the frontrunning Some Plan under Gavin Sheehan, with connections now aiming towards the Neptune Novices' Hurdle in March.
