'He's similar to Imperial Commander' - Gold Cup dream for bumper winner

Saturday: Newbury

It is nearly 12 years since Imperial Commander gave Nigel Twiston-Davies Cheltenham Gold Cup glory and the trainer was not afraid to mention bumper winner Weveallbeencaught in the same breath as that former favourite.

An Irish point-to-point winner – like Imperial Commander – Weveallbeencaught cost £210,000 at a Cheltenham sale in January and made no mistake on his debut under rules.

Twiston-Davies, who trains the exciting youngster for Jimmy and Susie Wenman and Edward and Jane James, said: "We've got a good one. We'll go and win another bumper and then put him away for hurdling next season.

"I think a quiet bumper. The owners will be keen to do something fancy, but I've got to calm them down. A horse his size isn't going to win an Aintree bumper, and he's a three-mile chaser. We bought him as a Gold Cup horse and that's what we're going for.

"He's very similar to Imperial Commander. That's big talk, but that's the idea we've got."

Connor Brace (left) with his grandfather David after Paint The Dream's victoryCredit: Mark Cranham

Brace family in dream land

Proud grandfather did not even come close to describing how David Brace was feeling after Paint The Dream landed the BetVictor Greatwood Gold Cup.

The Grade 3 feature might have lost some of its lustre, but trainer Fergal O'Brien was all smiles after seeing the smart eight-year-old strike and so was double-glazing entrepreneur Brace, whose grandson Connor did the steering.

Not only that, Brace bred Paint The Dream, whose half-brother Gats And Co won at Chepstow last week.

"He's a lovely horse and we always thought there was a good day in him," he said. "Connor told me yesterday to be positive and that the horse would do the job."

Also doing the job was the jockey's brother Jude.

"We've just come from Beaufort point-to-point where Connor's brother has ridden a pony race winner," Brace added. "He's 13 today, so we rushed from there to here and only arrived when Paint The Dream was walking around the paddock.

"I'm a proud grandfather and tell Connor I'm a great grandsire as I breed plenty of winning jockeys!"

O'Brien completed a double when Punctuation, ridden by Paddy Brennan and bred by the Queen, struck in the 2m½f novice handicap hurdle.

Hailing Brace, O'Brien said: "Connor is like family. He lived with me for a while and I'm very proud of him too. He works very hard and is riding really well."

Brendan Powell gets a stylish leap from Black PoppyCredit: Mark Cranham

Powell pearler on Poppy

There cannot be many jockeys riding better than Brendan Powell, whose talents were on display in the 2m½f handicap hurdle in which the Kerry Lee-trained Black Poppy scraped home.

"You wouldn't know how many horses I've had beaten on the line in the last few weeks and when he was headed, I thought, 'Oh no, not again'," said Lee, "but it was a great ride from Brendan."

Powell, recording the 53rd winner of his most prolific campaign, was not letting things go to his head and said: "I didn't really know what to expect this season, but knew I'd be linking up with the Tizzards again and I'd be involved in a big, powerful yard.

"I'm pleased with how things are going, but you can't get caught up in it too much and, as soon as you finish one ride, you're on to the next one."

Williams wonder

Venetia Williams' string had been under the weather, but the novice handicap chase went to the yard's Fuji Flight.

"We've got a lot with dirty noses, which is a big worry, but they're not filthy-filthy-dirty, if you know what I mean," she said.

"You've got to be wary of the odd horse slipping through the net and running below par. The battery on my torch is running out because I go round every morning checking their legs and now I'm poking it up their noses too!"

Results, replays and analysis

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