Papini Race Reports 2007 ~ 2008

1st January 2008, Utopia Group “Dipper” Novices' Chase, Cheltenham. Happy Birthday to Papini who is now 7!
 
Having had a full month off after his Newbury race, Papini was champing at the bit and ready for his next run. With a plethora of entries over the festive period, Nicky decided to opt for the Cheltenham race on New Year’s Day, after Newbury on 29th looked and indeed ended up cutting up into a very competitive event and for a meagre purse of prizemoney it looked an even less attractive option. Therefore the prestigious and very valuable Grade 2 chase at Cheltenham was chosen and with only a field of five and prizemoney down to fifth place it would have been silly not to run Papini on Tuesday.
 
Freshly clipped and looking as laidback as ever, Papini waltzed around the Paddock unaware of the crowds; Channel 4 cameras; and most importantly his adoring owners as you looked on and awaited the arrival of our blue and yellow clad pilot. Once united, Mick and Nicky discussed plans for the race ahead – the anticipation was that Lead On could well make the running and with a step up in trip, Papini would not challenge for the initial lead but instead would remain handy and track the leaders until turning in for home. The jockeys coming back from the previous races were reporting a going riding on the slow and sticky side of the official Good to Soft and although the runners from the races before were getting home it was not as easy as the Going suggested. The highly respected, Nicholls trained Predateur went off as favourite and even though Papini looked certain to have beaten him at Cheltenham, if it had not been for the fall at the penultimate fence back in November, he was not an opponent to be sniffed at; and again, despite Papini beating Lead On by a head at Newbury a month before, this Hobbs’ trained gelding was no push-over either. In fact the entire field of four looked to be very decent competitors and with a step up in trip to contend with, plus the awesome Cheltenham hill to climb on tacky ground, we knew that this would be no walk in the park for our boy, Papini.
 
The tapes went up and it took a good 20-30 seconds before anybody took the initiative to jump off, but eventually they got going and Mick dropped Papini into third place behind the French horse, Okaido, and Lead on. The pace was painfully slow but as they hacked past the Stands on the ‘New Course’ (thankfully running on this course meant that the nasty penultimate fence isn’t jumped) Papini looked to be enjoying himself, with ears pricked and relaxed on the bridle. Jumping as well as ever Papini chased the leaders comfortably, but going down the back straight the pace quickened slightly and he appeared to hit a flat spot and go off the boil somewhat, as the leaders went away from him. With Lead On and Okaido vying for the lead, Mick plugged on but with Predateur patiently waiting in the wings and Richard Johnson seemingly having a fair bit in hand, it looked as though we would have to settle for fourth place. However two fences from home the French raider crashed out, leaving us to chase Lead On followed by Predateur home; with Nudge and Nurdle following us by three and half lengths. 
 
Mick dismounted from a heavily blowing Papini, with a report that Papini appeared to lose enthusiasm and momentum going down the back straight and it was only through grit and determination that he fought back and claimed a decent third place. The tacky ground did not help Papini’s efforts one bit but his jumping was a credit to him as ever; Mick’s departing words that even though Papini was running on at the end, a drop back in trip should certainly be a consideration for next time and that if we run him from a more prominent, attacking position, as in the past, this could well assist in lighting Papini up once more.
 
Post Race Update: 'Ini came back safe and sound from the race and was in one happy, sound piece the next day.

30th November 2007, AIS Fire Tech Novices’ Chase, Newbury. Papini is one tough horse and after his nasty fall at Cheltenham he bounced straight back to his normal exuberant form within an astonishing one day. As the saying goes ‘if you fall off get straight back in the saddle’ and with Papini telling his lad Nick how well he was feeling at home, Nicky decided that Newbury would be the perfect venue for Papini to get his confidence back at. With the entry made the only thing to stop us going to the Berkshire track would be if Papini schooled badly at home, however this was far from the case as he jumped with all his usual positive attitude, leaving both Mick and Nicky in no doubt that running Papini only two weeks since his last run (and only ever fall) would not be a mistake.

Now, we have run in some competitive high class races before but nothing like this. With tantalizing prize money on offer and the chance to put Papini against some of the best Novice Chasers around at the moment, all at his home track, this was just too tempting a prospect to miss and so the declaration was made. A race like this enables you to gauge just how good your horse is and so rather than being scared of the opposition this was Papini’s chance to shine and to show us where and what we can aim for in the future. Looking down the list of entries I knew this was to be a scorcher and once the 24 hour declarations had been made this was even more apparent; always a red hot novice chase in the past, this would prove no less so, last year the race went to Denman and the roll on honour from years past include the breathtaking (and one of my favourite horses of all time) Gloria Victis as well as Bacchanal, Katerino, Jair Du Cochet and Vodka Bleu. All seven of this year’s runners had BHA hurdle marks of between 127 and 144 and over half of the field had won over fences – but talking to Silverburn’s owner, Paul Green, beforehand he said Denman’s half brother and the Tolworth hurdle winner– Silverburn - had as much to fear from Papini as Papini did from his horse - a compliment indeed.

With each passing race this season, Papini is looking stronger, fitter and more toned; seemingly happy to be back at his favourite track, Ini looked every bit as good as all the other runners if not more so. With the jockeys coming back from the three previous races, reporting very slow and tiring ground we knew it was going to be a slog but thankfully Papini has more than proved in the past that he is capable of acting on pretty much any Going. The Paddock was awash with NewROG owners as Mick and Nicky discussed the race tactics; just as we had at Cheltenham, the plan was not to do all the leg work for the other runners by setting the pace, but instead stay very handy and let Papini have a clear view of every fence. 

In not quite as miserable weather as at Cheltenham, but still not that great, we watched as the tapes went up and Papini jumped off in fifth place on the outside. With a rather weak pace being set, our chap was keen as mustard as he chased the leaders, but after flying over the first fence he took a slightly more relaxed position just behind the front-running leader - Hobbs Hill. Papini was ridden into every fence by Mick and he saw a stride at every obstacle, clearing them fluently and effectively. With Hobbs Hill and Papini two lengths clear of the rest of the chasing bunch, they jumped from fence to fence down the back straight; turning in for home, as expected, the pace quickened but Papini headed the chase and continued to exert pressure over the leader. Four fences from home in the Straight, Silverburn was shaken up and started his challenge, forcing Papini to jump this fence in third place; going into the third fence from home Papini ran out of petrol but he thankfully cleared it. With the ground seemingly sapping the remainder of Papini’s reserves he just about clambered over the penultimate fence and to all watching it looked like we would finish well behind. With Hobbs Hill taking the race readily from Silverburn by an easy five lengths, we watched with delight as Papini dug as deep as a horse can and started his very own battle with Lead On. We have seen Papini doing this before, at Lingfield in his first run of his second season on bottomless ground, and again on Friday he refused to give up - being headed by another horse gave him the challenge he needed and from somewhere he picked up the bridle and fought like a trojan to the line, taking 3rd place from Lead On by a mere neck. It was exhilarating to watch such an honest and genuine horse in action.

Back in the Winners’ Enclosure Mick dismounted pleased as punch with Papini’s performance. He said even cantering down to the start he could feel that the Cheltenham race was a forgotten memory in Papini’s mind and after the way he took the first fence he knew that he need not worry about Papini’s confidence level. Mick said that he couldn’t fault Papini the entirety of the race especially his jumping, as he never once took his eye of the fences and he jumped like a seasoned pro not a novice. Papini surprised even Mick by digging so deep to find the strength to battle back to third place when it looked like we would only just get round on such exhausting ground. Mick finished off by saying that finishing behind two very serious horses was nothing to be disappointed about and in fact we should be delighted with Papini’s performance and the attitude he showed in the race; Nicky couldn’t have agreed more either.
  
Post Race Update:  Papini has come out of the race well and he is thankfully 100% sound. The plan for Papini is for him now to have three weeks off before Nicky starts looking for another race, and this could well be around the Festive period.

18th November 2007, Independent Newspaper Novices' Chase, Cheltenham. With Papini coming out of his Ascot race so well and having been given the race on a plate by his rivals, Nicky knew that running Papini only two weeks later would mean that he would be spot on; and reports coming out of the yard all week confirmed this, with both Nicky and Mick very bullish about Papini’s chances. With two entries made over The Open Meeting at Cheltenham, one on Friday and one on Sunday, Nicky decided to opt for the much more valuable race on Sunday (in fact this is one of the key novice chases of the first half of the season, with Best Mate & Azertyuiop being past winners) as Nicky considered the biggest threat out of the two races was the Twiston-Davies trained Imperial Commander, who in fact went on to win Friday’s race by a very impressive 11 lengths.

Sunday saw a deluge, and whilst we were hoping for some rain, the amount Cheltenham actually got was unprecedented (the last race had to be abandoned) and it was with some trepidation that the horses and riders went out for the 1st race, as nobody knew what the ground was going to actually ride like – a pretty tough call for the novices. Standing in the biting wind, driving rain and sub-zero temperature Nicky issued instructions to Mick to: ‘not to do all the donkey work out in front, as being the first heading into the wind would be a battle in itself and waste so much energy, but instead let Papini lob along very much in touch and handy with enough day light between himself and the others so as not to disappoint him.’ With Classic Croco down as a non-runner, having run on Friday, this meant Papini only had seven others to beat and with a mixed bag of ability between all the horses, it looked like we had a pretty good chance; the betting indicated this too, with Papini second favourite at 3-1, to the highly regarded Nicholls’ four year old and the yard’s main Arkle prospect – Predateur.

There was a good chance that Dev would make the running, which would play into our hands nicely and as anticipated the seven year-old did just that, leaving Papini to set off in 5th place out wide. Papini took the first two fences keenly, so before the Third Mick squeezed Papini up into second place behind Dev, which allowed Papini to settle and put a great leap into the third fence right in front of the Stands. With the rain really getting into the ground and making the landings very slippery, Jamie Moore on Dev, thankfully maintained a very sensible pace and as they hacked past the Stands Papini looked very comfortable indeed. Mick and Papini continued to jump from fence to fence fluently, with a beautiful leap four from home at the uphill open ditch; sadly this fence saw the first casualty with Leslingtaylor falling. Turning for home, the pace quickened and Dev’s lead was challenged; going downhill Papini was joined just before the third fence from home, but after landing Mick shook the reins at Papini and he responded nicely regaining his position. Going into the notorious penultimate fence (where so sadly Granite Jack lost his life the day before in the Paddypower Gold Cup and the fence that is subsequently causing so much negative press attention), Papini took off too close to the fence which meant that his landing was all the more steep, and on wet, slippery ground going down hill this had the tragic consequence of seeing our wonder horse slip and land on his nose. It was a blessed relief to see both Mick and Papini get up (along too with the other faller – Tramantano), and all those watching could see that Papini was unscathed as he cantered to the finish, behind the Charlie Mann trained winner, Moon Over Miami.

In the unsaddling enclosed it was thankful to see that Papini was unharmed and sound; Mick had been taken back from the course to the Weighing Room by car and so I was unable to get an instant report however I did so later by phone, on the way home in the car. Mick’s analysis was that Papini had jumped almost foot perfect, he had been keen to start with but once he had taken the first two fences he relaxed and really settled into his jumping from behind the leader. Even though the conditions were horrendous, Papini handled the ground well and turning downhill towards home he had picked up when asked and was on the bridle when he took the penultimate fence. Mick said that Papini made a novicey mistake by taking his eye off the fence going into it, to look at the horse next to him, which meant that he got in too close; with the landing being on the downward gradient this makes the landing even steeper and consequently the ground ran away from them on landing leaving Papini with nothing to get his front feet into. The most frustrating thing Mick said was that Papini was full of running and although he can not say for certain that they would have beaten the winner he also can’t say that we wouldn’t have beaten him either - Mick really thinks there was a good chance that we would have won. Obviously the fall came as a big disappointment but running Papini from behind and teaching him to settle is one valuable lesson learnt from the race, as this will benefit us in the future, if we don’t always have to front run and set up the race for the other runners this will leave Papini with more fuel in the tank for the run-in. What we can take away from the race, is that Papini is as good as we thought he was; that he had every chance of winning Sunday’s race, which in itself means that Papini has to be considered one of the leading novices around. A silver lining at least.

Post Race Update:  As ever the most and only important post-race news is how Papini is; more than ever I am thrilled to say that he is totally sound and doesn’t have a single scratch on him from the fall. I went up to the yard on Monday morning and watched him being walked around the yard and there didn’t appear to be a single sign of soreness. The plan is now to let Papini have a couple of quiet weeks, just hacking away, and to keep schooling him to ensure that when Nicky thinks Papini is ready for his next race, then Sunday’s fall is a forgotten memory and his confidence is completely unaffected.

PS: Since I wrote this, Scarlett and I have popped up to the yard to see 'Ini and give him an apple; the news from this morning (Wednesday), was that when he was ridden out today he was as fresh as anything and quite a handful! So it seems that thankfully he is back to his old self already.

3rd November 2007, Ascot Underwriting Beginners' Chase, Ascot. Have you come down yet from Saturday’s high yet? I don’t think I have! Judging by the fantastic turn-out on Saturday, I am assuming that the majority of Papini’s owners were there at Ascot to watch our wonder horse hack up, but I hope you don’t mind reliving it again with me for the benefit of those of you who were unable to make it.

As you know from my weekly updates, Papini’s preparation since he has returned from his summer holidays has gone exactly to plan and everyone at the yard has been more than delighted with Papini’s progress; none more so that Mick who had been schooling him twice a week in the lead up to last weekend’s race. With concerns over the going due to the lack of rain Nicky walked the course on Thursday, before Friday’s declaration, but he was happy that the ground, albeit quick, was safe and knowing that Papini has the advantage of not being ground-dependant the decision was taken for the declaration to be made the following morning.

It was a heavenly autumnal day, not a cloud in the sky and a crisp bite in the air – perfect ‘proper racing’ weather! ‘Ini’ looked a picture in the pre-parade ring, still hanging on to the last of his summer coat and beautifully plaited by his lad, Neil (we should have won the Best Turned Out in my opinion!!). With some of the other runners looking very nervy, Papini looked the true professional, very calm, confident and relaxed – you could almost feel him saying “I know my job and I know I am good, so why waste energy worrying!” It seems like the rest of the UK also felt the same way too, as at 4-6 favourite it appeared it was a done deal even before the off.  Fitzy also appeared just as keen as he was in the Paddock even before the throng of owners joined him. Nicky issued instructions – to let Papini bowl along in his favoured position, out in front, get him into a nice rhythm and do his best to win. The betting showed a real lack of opposition with the closest being the Gary Moore trained, Adopted Hero and what I personally considered our nearest danger – Tycoon Hall who was being dropped in distance and class after finishing 3rd to Prestbury Knight in a decent Class 2 race at Market Rasen at the end of September.

As soon as the judge lifted the tape the race panned out for Papini better than could have been hoped for, it appeared that half – if not the rest - of the field were fast asleep and handed Papini a good 10-11 lengths head start (as though he needed it!). Papini jumped from fence to fence, absolutely foot perfect and looking more like a seasoned chaser rather than having his debut over the bigger obstacles; "Ini" cantered past the stands, ears pricked and having a ball. Heading away from the stands Papini tried to put a long one in but Mick decided to over rule Papini’s natural instincts (with such a huge lead over the rest of the field there was no need for Papini to be brave and take unnecessary risks) and asked him to put an extra stride in before taking off; Papini duly responded but in his mind also took this to mean that he didn’t really need to try also and consequently went to sleep down the back straight, jumping very cautiously. Having taken advantage of Papini’s drop in gear, Adopted Hero and Tycoon Hall had managed to clawed back some of the massive lead Papini had built up and turning in for home they appeared to be pressing Papini but no fear! Realising that he actually did have some opponents Papini woke up after a small reminder from Mick and the turbo charger was lit! Going into the last couple of fences, Papini soared and stretched his lead once again before being eased down in the run-in to the line. Poetry in motion! I’m not ashamed to say that I shed my usual tear and shrieks of delight as we hacked 6 lengths clear of Tycoon Hall.

In the Winners’ Enclosure, Mick dismounted all smiles, saying that he couldn’t help but be happy with Papini’s performance – he jumped like a pro and that when shook up turning in, he responded immediately. His final words were “that he does more on a Saturday morning at home!” – and looking at Papini being walked round you could see what he meant, he wasn’t even blowing. What a horse!

Post Race Update:  Papini came out of the race without a scratch on him, as well as being sound and well. The plan is now for him to have a quiet week and then Nicky will look for a suitable race for him at the end of the month – possible at Newbury over the Hennessy Meeting, if there is anything suitable for him.

2006 ~ 2007 Race Reports - click here.
2005 ~ 2006 Race Reports - click here.
2004 ~ 2005 Race Reports - click here.