3 minute read
Jay Jay Reilly defied his 33/1 starting price when taking out the valuable Coral Lanzarote Handicap Hurdle at Kempton.
The eight-year-old hadn't been seen over hurdles since March last year, with nine outings over fences coming between then and today's objective.
However, the switch back to the smaller obstacles certainly seemed to work the oracle for Dan Skelton's charge, who kept on well up the run-in to provide conditional jockey Tristan Durrell with what he described as 'the best day of my career'.
The Skelton team, who landed the prize twelve months ago courtesy of West Balboa, would have been fearing coming off second best this time around as Nemean Lion looked to rally close home, but once again their horse would have enough in hand, with Jay Jay Reilly staying on strongly to score with one and a quarter length to spare at the line.
11/4 favourite Impose Toi could never quite bridge the gap on the leading duo and eventually finished a further five lengths behind in third for trainer Nicky Henderson and owner JP McManus.
Speaking to Racing TV's Nick Luck, 3lb conditional Tristan Durrell, high off his earlier success on Flegmatik for the same trainer, said: "It's unbelievable. Obviously, the best day of my career.
"I've never ridden a double before and a double on a big day like this is just unreal. To win the Lanzarote, it's a big, competitive handicap, I'm just very grateful to Dan and the owners for putting me up and putting their trust in me. It's nice to go and win.
"On the way down, I said to Bridget 'you need to tell me how to win a Lanzarote, because you won last year'.
"She said 'you need an OK start, so you're not too far away because there's so many runners, and just try to keep out of trouble' – and that's where I was.
"I had a nice bit of room, just followed Harry Cobden through and it couldn't have worked out better for me."
The son of Fame And Glory finished well-held back in eight in the December Gold Cup Handicap Chase at Cheltenham in March, but Durrell was keen to stress his optimism heading into the contest.
"It's funny because he was a big price but at home, we all thought he had a good chance, as he's never felt so well all year and back over hurdles, they just gain confidence, don't they," added Durrell.
"We thought he had a good chance, but it's always unbelievable when it happens, isn't it. It's a great day for the team and just brilliant."
The memorable Tristan Durrell victory rounded off a remarkable day for trainer Dan Skelton, who was enjoying a much-deserved rest in Barbados, as the team saddled a staggering six winners across England on Saturday afternoon.
