South West Trainers Sparkle at Big Cheltenham Meeting

November has been a busy month in the international horse racing calendar, with several major meetings taking place across the world.

The Breeders’ Cup World Championships kicked things off early this month, with Santa Anita Racecourse hosting a two-day betting extravaganza.

The top Australian betting sites were inundated with wagers a few days later as the prestigious Melbourne Cup race was staged at Flemington Racecourse.

Top Irish trainer Willie Mullins saddled well-backed favourite Vauban, but the horse failed to sparkle under jockey Ryan Moore in ‘the race that stops the nation’.

After subsequently switching his attention back to National Hunt racing, Mullins has shown Australian punters what he is made of by firing in a succession of winners over the past two weeks.

However, he endured a frustrating weekend at the prestigious Cheltenham November Meeting last weekend, with two of his three runners failing to complete the course.

By contrast, several trainers located in the south west region of the United Kingdom picked up valuable prizes at the Gloucestershire track including Paul Nicholls.

Stage Star was undoubtedly his most notable winner on Saturday, with the 4/1 favourite surviving a bad mistake at the final fence to record an impressive success in the Paddy Power Gold Cup.

The seven-year-old made most of the running and looked on course to secure an easy win, before jockey Harry Cobden was caught in two minds between the last two fences.

However, after giving the obstacle an almighty clout, Stage Star quickly regained his momentum before powering up the run-in to claim victory by four lengths.

“He did well to win - you don’t often make mistakes like that, lose your momentum and gallop on,” Nicholls said. “If he had not done that, then he would have won very well.

“It’s been a bit of a challenge to get him right, as he’s not one who wants to be taken away for a gallop, he’s not been anywhere, we’ve just got him right at home. He’s good fresh but it’s about getting that balance right between being fresh and good enough to win like today.

“This has been a target from when he came and if he hadn’t made that mistake at the last, he would have been really impressive.

“He’s got to be a Ryanair horse on that. He’s going to keep improving and his season will be geared back from that. He has to go left-handed and there’s no point going anywhere else with him.”

Nicholls was also on the scoresheet the following day, with his Ginny’s Destiny capitalising on the late fall of Crebilly to land the cavani.co.uk Novices’ Limited Handicap Chase.

South west-based trainers also made their mark on the first day of the meeting, winning the first two events on the six-race card.

American Sniper landed the Lycetts Insurance Brokers Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle at odds of 16/1 to end David Pipe’s recent drought at the Gloucestershire track.

Pipe had not saddled a winner at Cheltenham since spring 2022, but got back on the board courtesy of a gritty display by the five-year-old.

Joe Tizzard then got in on the act as jockey Brendan Powell delivered Triple Trade with a well-time run to win the Mucking Brilliant Paddy Power Handicap Chase.

Triple Trade may be back in action on December 2, with Tizzard eyeing a tilt at Coral Get Closer To The Action Handicap Chase at Newbury.