Saturday 20 December 2014 16:47, UK
A review of the rest of Saturday's action at Ascot where Flintham produced a brave performance to make every yard.
Mark Bradstock has trained a few good horses in his time, including Hennessy Gold Cup winner Curruthers, and he boldly insists that Flintham could be the best of the lot following his Ascot success.
Stepping up in trip, Flintham made every yard of the running with a game performance to take the three-mile Foundation Developments Novices' Handicap Hurdle in the hands of Nico de Boinville.
The 7/1 chance, who got off the mark at Chepstow last month, always travelled well at the head of affairs and kept finding more as he fought off the attentions of The Tourard Man (3/1 favourite) to win by a length and a quarter. There were seven lengths back to the third, the staying-on Spookydooky.
A son of Kayf Tara, Bradstock says Flintham's ability comes from his mother, Plaid Maid. He said: "He could be the best of the lot. It is early days and while he doesn't compare with Carruthers over hurdles, he had a bad start in life.
"He is very game, just like the whole family. He is very tough. Even if the second had got to him, he would never get past him.
"His mother produced a few very good horses and he could be the best of them.
"He was an orphaned foal and was bought up by a cob. There is a bit of cob in him. He's definitely got a bit of an attitude. We always thought he wanted three miles but what he does over fences is anybody's guess.
"Soft ground was slightly my concern but it certainly didn't worry him.
"He will go over fences before the end of the season.
"I thought he was a certainty at Chepstow and he won, and today I did think he had improved and was longing to see him over three miles - it worked out."
Philip Hobbs is enjoying one of his best-ever seasons and it was another training feat of gargantuan proportions to get Ballygarvey fit for the BGC Partners Handicap Chase.
The eight-year-old had been off the track for 13 months before returning in the two-miles-one-furlong contest.
Tom O'Brien's mount could be forgiven for needing the run, but you would not have guessed it, such was the way he jumped enthusiastically and battled away in a titanic finish to get the better of Ulck Du Lin.
Malibu Bay unseated De Boinville at the first and the race became even less of a spectacle when Lancetto came to grief five out, sadly suffering a fatal injury. Ballygarvey (9/2) had stalked the early pace and even made a bad blunder himself five out.
That was the wake-up call he needed and he made it a three-way tussle two out, becoming the meat in the sandwich with Bellenos and Ulck Du Lin (5/1).
Bellenos was soon beaten and after the duo jumped upsides at the last, rather than wilting, Ballygarvey showed plenty of fight, drawing away to prevail by four lengths.
Hobbs said: "It has been going very well recently, so we hope we can keep going.
"Tom is a very good horseman and is very good tactically. I thought after the mistake at the fourth-last, he was stuffed, but he battled on well and stuck to it.
"I thought he was beaten with that mistake but he stayed on very well. He is most effective on very soft ground over two miles.
"He shouldn't even have run here. Richard Poole, the chap who runs The Dark Horse Partnership, who own him, rang me at 11.30 on Monday morning and asked if we should enter him here, because we were thinking of running him at Haydock today or at Chepstow next week.
"I thought we'd have a look - and but for his entry he would not have run here."
