'He deserved a big one' - The Changing Man has his day after early departure for favourite Jingko Blue

The Changing Man capitalised on the early departure of odds-on favourite Jingko Blue as he finally enjoyed his moment in the limelight in the Grade 2 Ebony Horse Club Reynoldstown Novices' Chase.

At the tenth time of asking and after finishing runner-up on his previous three starts, The Changing Man opened his account over fences with a 24-length defeat of Leave Of Absence. 

The complexion of the race changed dramatically when Jingko Blue unseated Nico de Boinville at the third fence and from that point The Changing Man dominated. 

"He absolutely deserved a big one," said winning trainer Joe Tizzard. "I don't know what he beat in the end but he couldn't have done it more impressively. It's a novice chase and you've got to jump around, so I'm delighted he's having his day."

The Changing Man was cut to 40-1 (from 66) with Betfair Sportsbook for the Brown Advisory and to 12-1 (from 16) for the Ultima Handicap Chase and Tizzard suggested one of those two races would be next for the winner.

He added: "He'll have an entry in both and we'll see but if the Brown Advisory cut up, we might take our chance." 

Both Jingko Blue and De Boinville appeared unscathed after their hiccup, with trainer Nicky Henderson not ruling out a quick return to action in the Pendil Novices' Chase at Kempton on Saturday. 

Victory for Victtorino

Victtorino, who was half a length too strong for The Changing Man at Ascot in December, followed up that success as he edged out Threeunderthrufive in the 3m handicap chase.

Beaten just once in five visits to Ascot, Victtorino was smuggled up the inside by Charlie Deutsch before getting the better of a driving finish with the runner-up. 

"I thought he was beaten but that was great," said winning trainer Venetia Williams, yet again on the mark on a Saturday. "The ground is loose but I don't think it's testing and there were still lots of horses there with three to jump.

"I thought we were going to get outsprinted but it was nice to see the first and second were up there the whole way around. We were certainly yelling some."

Altobelli records his second Ascot win of 2025 for trainer Harry FryCredit: Getty Images

More course joy

Ascot specialist Altobelli was at it again in the 2m3½f handicap hurdle, taking his record to two wins, a second and a third from four runs at the royal racecourse with a three and three-quarter length win under Bryan Carver. 

A winner over the same course and distance last month, Altobelli could now bid to transfer his form to Cheltenham in next month's Coral Cup.

"It's a shame they don't have a festival here in four weeks," said winning trainer Harry Fry. "He's on an upward curve and hopefully he can keep climbing now. I imagine we'll enter him in the Coral Cup and another step up in trip would be a plus if anything."  

Spade strikes gold

Ben Pauling revealed his desire to send a bigger team to the Punchestown festival this season and Samuel Spade could well be on the team sheet after registering a comfortable victory in the 2m7½f handicap hurdle.

A bit of a Jekyll and Hyde character according to Pauling, Samuel Spade did everything right to score by four and three-quarter lengths under Ben Jones. 

"I thought Ben gave him a very good ride," said Pauling. "He was the best horse in the race and he picked them up well. Ben nicked ground everywhere, found the right holes and the horse finished well.

"He's a bit of an enigma. When he's good, he's really good but when he's bad he doesn't want to know. We might take him to Punchestown for the fun of it. He's not good enough for a Coral Cup and we're looking for a few to take to Punchestown, so he might fill a gap."

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