David Nicholls on fast track with Victoire De Lyphar
Everyone dreams of making quick money but David Nicholls has found the best way is by training quick horses.
The trainer is widely regarded as the king of the sprinters and Victoire De Lyphar was first to the line for Nicholls in the Reg Griffin Memorial Trophy at York.
Twenty-runner handicaps often end up in a blanket finish but Victoire De Lyphar, ridden by Nicholls’ son Adrian, won this with a bit to spare and is clearly a progressive handicapper. Nicholls had him in chasing the leaders early on as Hoof It, Take Ten and The Only Boss took the field through the first three furlongs. When the field hit the two-furlong pole Victoire De Lyphar was on the far side of the leaders and took the lead with about a furlong-and-a-half to run.
Nicholls had to get pretty active to start with but Victoire De Lyphar was drawing clear in the last hundred yards to beat Iver Bridge Lad by one-and-a-quarter lengths, with Singeur a head away in third and Pastoral Player fourth. And it was clearly a special moment for the winning jockey who punched the air in celebration as he passed the post.
It was also the execution of a well-worked plan as Victoire De Lyphar had been trained with this race in mind and given just the one previous start, which he won, at Doncaster in April. He went up 7lbs for that success which ensured that he was high enough in the handicap to get a run in this £100,000 race.
Nicholls Snr, who had won this race twice with Pepperdine in 1999 and Tax Free five years ago, was not at the track, but his son said: "Hard work but he’s done it well in the end. It’s great to ride a winner here, in front of a big crowd. I’m from around here so it means a lot to me. Fair dues to the old man I was asking him when he was going to run after Doncaster and he said ‘wait and see’ – that’s why he’s the boss.
"He’s done a wonderful job with him. He’s going to go on from this as well – he’s a lovely horse. And he got all of that trip. He was off the bridle a long way down, I had to keep persisting on him, and he’s galloped through the line lovely. He had the form to be there with a right shout and I’m just glad he’s gone and proved it now. Hopefully he can go on to bigger and better things.”
Frankie Dettori had to settle for third on Singeur but had an easy time on Rebel Soldier, who could return to York for the John Smith's Cup, after an eight-length victory in the Daniel Prenn Royal Yorkshire Handicap.
Tim Etherington gave York a miss but the 496-mile round trip from his Malton yard to Sandown Park was made worthwhile when Burning Thread blasted down the five-furlong track to win the Listed totesport.com Scurry Stakes.
Breaking fast for William Buick, Burning Thread had Above Limits, Duchess Dora and Reignier queuing up to challenge him in the last furlong but he kept finding more to beat Reignier by a half-length.
Tags: