More G1 glory for ‘magical’ Tidal Bay
7th April 2008
Tidal Bay (7g Flemensfirth-June’s Bride, by Le Moss) confirmed his position as the outstanding novice chaser of the 2007/2008 season with a brilliant G1 success at Aintree on Saturday in the G1 John Smith’s Maghull Novices’ Chase.
Howard Johnson’s charge took the lead after the penultimate fence and coasted to a six-length victory from Takeroc.
The seven-year-old, who was bred by John Dorgan, was bought by owner Graham Wylie for 300,000gns at the 2006 Doncaster May Sale and after four wins over hurdles - including in the G2 Mersey Novices’ Hurdle at Aintree last year - he has now won five times over fences, including in the G1 Irish Independent Arkle Chase at the Cheltenham Festival on his previous start.
"He’s a magical horse," said Johnson. "He’s so game and that’s a relief because I was a bit worried about how horses that had been to Cheltenham had run this week. At the last when he made a slight mistake he was just looking around, he was ducking and diving but he’s clever.
"That’s definitely it for the season, he’ll be out in a field with Inglis Drever in a month’s time, and he really wants two and a half or two and three-quarter miles so he’d love the Ryanair Chase at Cheltenham."
Winning jockey Denis O’Regan added: "Ideally he wants two and a half miles and he was jumping very well today - he just made that mistake at the last when he looked around at the crowd. But he showed great courage, he was fantastic. It’s a very special victory because all of the Cheltenham winners were getting beat this week, except for Our Vic."
The Racing Post’s Analysis noted: "Top-notch 2m chasers Twist Magic, Ashley Brook and Well Chief were among the last four winners of this Grade 1 novice event and this year's line-up included an obvious candidate to join them in Tidal Bay, and nothing that happened here did anything to the dispel the idea that he is a champion in waiting. He has looked a potential star ever since he finished second in the NH Flat race on this card in 2006 and promises to make a big impact at the highest level next season."