'He was awesome' - Knappers Hill enters Champion Hurdle picture

Saturday: Wincanton

Paul Nicholls was responsible for seven of the 14 winners in the inaugural two-day West Country weekend and hopes Knappers Hill can continue to prove a leading light for the stable over hurdles this season.

He quickened clear to deny Sceau Royal a fourth win in the Unibet Elite Hurdle, earning quotes of 33-1 for the Champion Hurdle at next year's Cheltenham Festival, and he could be in line to tackle the Fighting Fifth Hurdle at Newcastle next.

"Harry said he was awesome then," Nicholls said. "He jumped brilliantly which was something I was slightly worried about. He just keeps galloping and improving. That was the next step up the ladder.

"You never thought you'd see Paul [Barber] with a Champion Hurdle horse – he's used to slow chasers. I'm joking there, but he's taken another step up.

"I put him in the Fighting Fifth the other day. My ultimate aim was always the Aintree Hurdle as that track over two and a half would suit him well, but what happens in between, we'll see."

Knappers Hill, owned by Barber and Paul Vogt, was one of four winners at Wincanton for team Nicholls.

While Frodon took the day's feature, Hugos New Horse also landed the 1m7f novice hurdle won by Knappers Hill last season, and Don Alvaro captured the 2m4f conditional jockeys' handicap chase.

Emotional winner

Owner Clemmie Shipp dedicated the victory of Big Jim Beam in the bumper to her mother Jean, who died in May.

Shipp and her mother were avid racegoers and shared ownership in Tranquil Sea, who finished seventh in the 2015 Grand National. Their six-year-old, who runs in the same silks, was a stylish five-and-a-half-length winner.

"My mother would've loved this, she saw this horse the week before she died so it's nice to keep her legacy going," Shipp said.

"I lost my dad 25 years ago this year and since then me and Mum would do everything together. We love our racing, she used to take me to Sandown in my pushchair to watch Desert Orchid when I was younger.

"It's unbelievable to have a winner, he's exciting for the future and we'll go home dreaming."

Summer star making hay

Tim Syder highlighted how his Hang In There has taken advantage of poor field sizes throughout the summer with his victory in the Boodles-sponsored Rising Stars one of five this season.

The eight-year-old was adding this Grade 2 victory to wins at Uttoxeter, Worcester, Market Rasen and Newton Abbot. However, as Syder admitted afterwards, the opposition hasn't been the strongest.

Hang In There (right) gets the better of Mortlach to land the Grade 2 'Rising Stars' Novices' ChaseCredit: Alan Crowhurst

"He's beaten 13 horses and won five races and £65,000. It's great for him but not for summer jumping," said Syder, who part-owns Hang In There with Andrew Gemmell.

"You can understand with the ground as it is today – I wouldn't have been surprised if there was less [opposition]. He likes that ground and you've got to have a horse who likes it.

"He's only small and Emma [Lavelle] really had to shove my arm up my back to buy him. That's nine times he has won for us now and you can't ask for more than that."

Results, replays and analysis

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