McManus makes hay at Cheltenham with magical four-timer

Neil Morrice
March 11, 2020 6:45 pm

But still no clear leader in battle between punters and bookmakers.

Legendary gambler JP McManus ruled the roost on day two of the Cheltenham Festival, watching his famous green and yellow silks hit the bullseye in four of the seven races.

They included a sizeable overnight and on-course gamble on Dame De Compagnie which saw the mare backed in from 8-1 to 5-1 before landing the Coral Cup.

But it was nevertheless not a total disaster for the layers, whose Festival highlight on Wednesday will always be remembered as the Queen Mother Champion Chase.

First, Altior was ruled out of the day’s feature with a splint problem, then at the eleventh hour Chacun Pour Soi exited with a foot issue.

And to the chagrin of those that had lumped on Defi Du Seuil in both ante-post and on-course exchanges, the Philip Hobbs-trained gelding – owned by McManus – trailed home a very disappointing fourth of the five remaining runners behind Politologue.

Betfred spokesman Matt Hulmes said he was relieved the firm got out of jail, explaining: “We feel like we’ve dodged a bullet after popular winners of the first three races. It’s not been a successful day, but Defi Du Seuil failing to shine in the Queen Mother ended hopes of a bulk of multiple bets materialising.”

McManus’ retained jockey Barry Geraghty was instrumental in the feat, measured at an astonishing for the 1,019-1 accumulator, with that man in the irons for the victories of Champ and Dame De Compagnie.

Jonathan Plouganou took the reins for the triumph of Easysland in the Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase, guiding the recent McManus acquisition to a 17-length triumph over odds-on Tiger Roll and saving the bookmakers a small fortune.

Then the McManus day was cemented by Aramax in the Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle, whom Mark Walsh nursed home from Night Edition.

Champ, the horse who has always had a lot to live up to given his name, was easy to back in the RSA Insurance Novices’ Chase, going off at 4-1 before pulling the race out of the fire in the most dramatic circumstances on the run-in.

Easysland was a solid second-best at 3-1 in the market for the Glenfarclas Cross Country race, but easily brushed aside Aintree-bound Tiger Roll, while Aramax, carded as favourite for the juvenile handicap hurdle in morning exchanges, drifted to 15-2 before his success over Night Edition.

Envoi Allen had easily justified his price of 4-7 in the Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle after a considerable gamble with Ladbrokes. That firm reported Champ, Easysland and Aramax to also be bad results.

Spokesperson Nicola McGeady said: “Day two went to the punters thanks to Envoi Allen and the JP McManus four-timer.”

Paddy Power spokesman Paul Binfield felt it was a day of two halves: “We were looking at a horror movie after the first three results, but unbelievably Defi Du Seuil and Tiger Roll got beat which was a massive turnaround.

“The bumper became an important contest, but with Appreciate It getting done we’ve had a near miss and the books are up at the halfway stage.”