Market favourite Royal Honcho (4-5) paid dividends to punters on Tuesday night, as he landed the William Hill Springbok at the Wimbledon stadium.
The race was always looking to go Honcho’s way after he withstood the second-bend challenge from market rival Bocks Bullet (9-4), and went on to eventually beat Bullet be three-and-a-half lengths, clocking 28.59secs.
The victory gave trainer Seamus Cahill his third successive Springbok title, marking a great start to his year. Honcho will surely go on to represent Cahill next month in the Betfair Trainers Championship, which will see the top six trainers of 2009 competing against one another.
Trainer Ricky Holloway, more popularly known for being the leader of the SOS, was doubly represented on the night with Barnfield Haveit (8-1) and Riverbank Prince (25-1). The race was his last major race as trainer and owner, having announced earlier that he would be quitting the sport. Victory would have seen him replicate Cahill’s record for number of Springbok titles but unfortunately he could only produce a 3-4 finish.
Cahill said in the Racing Post: "We had a bit of a doubt after the semi-final. Royal Honcho was sore on Saturday morning, and we've done plenty of work on him since. This dog has an awful lot of potential. It might not be a vintage year for novice hurdlers, but you can only beat what is put in front of you and I thought he was very
impressive."
The Grand National and Champion Hurdle will obviously be Royal Honcho's principal targets this summer.
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