Clash Duff lands Devon National at Exeter
Clash Duff clinched an easy win in the Elizabeth Finn Care Devon National Handicap Chase, held at Exeter on Tuesday, March 06, 2012. It was a double delight for the trainer, Jeremy Scott, whose another gelding, Josh's Dreamway, landed victory earlier in
the day.
The 3m6f event began at 15:30 (GMT). Under Nick Scholfield, the seven-year-old failed to make an impact early on. However, he cashed the leaders superbly, giving his rivals no chance to take the contest away from him.
Despite a mistake at 14th bend, he managed to join leader at the 16th curve. Soon after becoming prominent, he perked up his speed to grab a handsome lead. In the final few furlongs, the gelding was in total command.
Following a brilliant at the final moments, Clash Duff managed to beat Atherstone Hill by four and a half lengths. The runner-up also chased the leaders in the early hours, but failed to continue his good work after that.
At the 12th bend, he made himself prominent, but was outpaced by the winner in the final stages of the clash. The rest of the pack challenged his second position, but he did not let anyone spoil his party.
Robin Dickin’s trainee secured second position by 1½ lengths, pushing Ammunition down to third place. Nigel Twiston-Davies’ 12-year-old was carrying the highest odds of 4-1.
The favourite gelding looked good near the beginning, but was unable to hold his advantage. Despite showing excellent speed in the middle, he could not establish his dominance.
However, a decent finish guided him to third position by a handy margin of four lengths. Upham Atom and Alderluck respectively completed the list of top five.
It was Clash Duff’s second victory this year, as he won Connolly's Red Mills Racehorse Cubes Novices' Chase at Huntingdon in January.
The syndicate manager, Tony Gale, expressed enormous delighted over the success of the Gale Force Four-owned gelding. Speaking to the media after the race, he said:
"We always hoped he would make a fair staying handicap chaser. Clash Duff was much better suited by the galloping circuit here rather than at Warwick the other day where it all happened too quickly for him."
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