3 minute read
The Jukebox Man impressed with a thrilling round of jumping in the 2m4f Grade 2 John Francome Novices’ Chase at Newbury on Friday.
Owned by footballing legend Harry Redknapp, the six-year-old suffered an agonising defeat in the Grade 1 Albert Bartlett Novices' Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival in March, beaten a neck on the line by Stellar Story. He filled the same position in the Grade 1 Sefton Novices' Hurdle behind Dancing City at Aintree, leaving connections excited for a novice chasing campaign.
The Ben Pauling-trained gelding set out to make all the running in the 2m4f contest, matching joint-favourite Captain Teague stride-for-stride in the early stages of the race. The Jukebox Man's jumping soon took him ahead of Paul Nicholls' runner, and he continued to turn up the pace turning into the straight. Jockey Ben Jones was forced to hold the gelding together over the last two fences, but he stayed on strongly all the way to the line to secure a two-length success over Masaccio.
In an interview with ITV Racing, delighted rider Jones said: "That was unbelievable. The horses aren't flying and I've probably had a bit of stick the last couple of weeks but to land a Grade 2 like that for Ben who has given me the job this year, to ride a big winner on the big stage just means a lot to me.
"He's been so, so good at home, maybe a bit too brave but we took a chance at the water and one down the back and that did him the world of good because he measured his fences really well after that. It's the best horse I've ever sat on without a doubt. I felt like I cantered round, just quickened up the home straight and said 'don't leave any shadows behind'. Ben said he was fit enough and he was right."
Winning trainer Ben Pauling was equally pleased with his charge, saying: "There is loads to work on, he got a bit close to the first few, and he was almost in hurdling mode, then he got stupidly big and bold, but Ben did well to rein him in and just get him to pop them down the back. That's his first run of the season and he's going to improve a ton - all mine do. We haven't been overly hard on him - we never are.
"We aren't always right, but I had it in my head that he wasn't just a dour stayer. We ran him in the Albert Bartlett and he got collared late home. At home, he's as slow as a hearse, but on the track he finds another gear, and I thought he had a touch of class, so dropping him back to two-and-a-half miles was always my plan. I was unsure on this ground whether we would have the gears, but it looks like we did, so it opens up a lot of other options.
"You were supposed to have seen him once already. He'll probably go somewhere around Christmas, then we'll see what we do between then and March. He's the sort of horse I could go Cheltenham, Aintree, Punchestown if I wanted to because he's hard as nails, so we're not going to fall into the trap of not running a good horse, because he enjoys his racing, and he enjoys his work at home, but at the same time we'll be campaigning him properly."
Paddy Power reacted to the win by shortening The Jukebox Man from 25/1 to 12/1 for the Brown Advisory Novices' Chase at the Festival.