Three November surprises which pitted the best against the best

Altior v Cyrname arrives at a time of the year when the jumps season is usually still wiping the sleep from its eyes, so here are three times in the not-too-distant past when Christmas came early for jumps fans.

Well Chief v Master Minded

Connaught Chase, Cheltenham
November 15, 2009

So often the bridesmaid in the middle part of the decade in meetings with Moscow Flyer and Azertyuiop, Well Chief was ten when returning from nearly two years on the sidelines to chase home Master Minded in the 2009 Champion Chase.

Although that effort earned him a lofty rating of 163, few expected him to bridge the seven lengths to Master Minded, let alone scamper away from him up the hill in the first running of what has become the Shloer Chase.

Yet the writing was on the wall running down the hill and, despite pecking at the second-last, Well Chief and Timmy Murphy had the measure of the 4-7 favourite, who hung right on the run-in and was passed for second by Master Mahogany

Kauto Star v Long Run

Betfair Chase, Haydock
November 19, 2011

Kauto Star signals his resurrection with an astonishing Betfair Chase victoryCredit: Edward Whitaker

Another case of age proving no barrier as 11-year-old Kauto Star took on reigning Gold Cup hero Long Run, who was five years his junior.

There had been a moment the previous March when the pair rose together in a line with Kauto Star's stablemate Denman at the second-last but that unity had proved illusory, as Long Run dominated his rivals in the closing stages.

Confident Paul Nicholls had worked Kauto Star to a peak of fitness for what many assumed would be a last hurrah, Ruby Walsh took the race by the scruff of the neck and Long Run never found any sort of fluency to his jumping, finishing eight lengths down as Haydock erupted in acclaim of its resurgent champion.

Brave Inca v Harchibald v Macs Joy

Maplewood Developments Morgiana Hurdle, Punchestown
November 20, 2005

The Morgiana has long been the starting point for Ireland's best hurdlers, but it is a mark of just how much of a stranglehold the country had on the two-mile division that three 160+ horses could line up at Punchestown while Champion Hurdler Hardy Eustace was still in his stable.

Brave Inca holds off Essex to land the 2005 Morgiana Hurdle, with Harchibald and Macs Joy already beaten offCredit: Caroline Norris

A rematch from the thrilling three-way fight witnessed at Punchestown the previous May did not entirely materialise, with Harchibald getting no run up the inside and Macs Joy backing out of the fight after a mistake at the penultimate flight.

If the race didn't quite live up to its billing, it did provide a view of events to come, as come March it would be Brave Inca and Tony McCoy who would prove tougher than the rest in the Champion.

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