Messire Des Obeaux delights King with comeback win on chasing debut

Former Grade One hero has returned from career-threatening injury.

Alan King was thrilled to see Messire Des Obeaux roll back the years with a heart-warming victory on his debut over fences at Wincanton.

Winner of the Grade One Challow Novices’ Hurdle at Newbury on New Year’s Eve of 2016, Messire Des Obeaux went on to be placed at both the Cheltenham Festival and Aintree the following spring, before injury kept him off the track for almost three years.

His return from a 1034-day hiatus at Huntingdon in February of this year was not devoid of promise, but it nevertheless looked as though his best days may perhaps be behind him.

Back from a subsequent 10-month absence for the Like Racing TV On Facebook Novices’ Limited Handicap Chase, Messire Des Obeaux was a well supported 7-2 chance under Daryl Jacob and fenced fluently throughout the two-and-a-half-mile contest.

He held a clear lead jumping the first fence in the home straight – and while 15-8 favourite Coconut Splash was closing him down on the run-in, King’s charge had enough in the tank to score by two and a quarter lengths.

“That gave me a lot of pleasure,” said the Barbury Castle handler.

“It’s been a long way back, but the team have worked really hard to get to this point, and we’ve felt for some time that he’s retained an awful lot of his ability.

“We’ll see how he is after this race – there are no plans. It was a special moment watching him win today.”

King admits there was a time when he thought Messire Des Obeaux might never return to competitive action.

He added: “He got a tendon injury at Aintree and went back to France afterwards, and it took a hell of a long time to get him back.

“At one stage he was going to be retired, but I pleaded with the owners to send him back to me to see if we could get him back. Thank goodness they did.

“We’ll enjoy today and hope all’s well in the morning.”

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Daryl Jacob Alan King

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