Ile De Re brought Donald McCain the Stanjames.Com Chester Cup on 9th May as Overturn settled second
Three weeks down the line after joining the new trainer, Donald McCain, Ile De Re brought him Chester’s oldest and longest race, the Stanjames.Com Chester Cup (Heritage Handicap) on 9th May. The stable mate, Overturn, had to compromise on the
lead by 1 ¾ lengths for the new entrant, Ile De Re.
Overturn, Barathea’s eight-year-old bay gelding out of mare, Kristal Bridge, was defending the title that he bagged last year. On 4th May, 2011, Overturn had no stable mates to look out for and led the field by the same lengths that deprived him
of victory this year around.
Donald McCain did not only send an additional entry this time but got the honour of becoming the winning trainer second time in a row.
Overturn had two dilemmas to face, one at the beginning of the race and the other throughout the race, the latter being linked to the prior. The start had to be switched from stall to flag in order to avoid ruining the already soft ground condition. Neither
suited the last year champion who did however maintain a decent second position.
Ile De Re’s jockey, Jim Crowley, is accustomed to the sort of the beginning that the race offered and thus did not struggle for long to settle the ride in to the place that he wanted.
Crowley said: "He was being a bit fractious at the start but I managed to get a good position after a furlong and we got a good trip all the way round. He travelled nicely and he was loving the ground so I was pretty confident and I knew he'd keep going."
Linamix’s six-year-old bay gelding out of mare, Ile Mamou, did not let his stable mate accomplish back to back wins in the Chester Cup. Having joined McCain’s stables so recently, the trainer gave all the credit to the previous supervisor of the six-year-old.
McCain said: "Ian Williams deserves a lot of the credit as he did a lot of the work and we've only had him a few weeks. It was a brave run from the old horse as well. I don't quite know how to feel as he's beaten everything bar the other one. I thought he'd
win two furlongs out but the weight on that ground has taken its toll.”
He has not mentioned any future plans for the winner yet but for Overturn he has The Ascot Gold Cup and The Queen Alexandra in mind.
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