Third Intention rocks in National Spirit Hurdle at Fontwell
Third Intention sealed an impressive victory in the Grade 2 Totepool National Spirit Hurdle, taken place at Fontwell on Sunday, February 26, 2012.
The 11/10 favourite ran superbly in the final gear, maintaining his dominance all the way through.
With seven speedy contenders in the line-up, the 2-mile 4-fourlong event started off at 15:40 (GMT). All eyes were glued on the five-year-old, who lived up to the expectations.
Under Joe Tizzard, the Colin Tizzard-trained was a touch lazy in the beginning. However, he quickly increased his speed to grab a reasonable advantage. After picking up a decent lead, he kept on running at a furious speed and never looked behind.
Following a brilliant run, the Irish gelding managed to beat Topolski by staggering nine lengths, winning a purse worth of £16,800.25. Whilst Third Intention didn’t let his rivals come near to him, the spectators witnessed a neck to neck battle between Topolski
and Duc De Regniere.
In an aim to finish second, both contenders ran marvellously, but the luck eventually turned in favour of Topolski. The six-year-old gelding seized the runner-up place by a neck distance.
It was definitely an embarrassing outcome for Duc De Regniere, who was leading the proceedings during initial part of the race. At the seventh fence, he was outpaced by the winner. By a huge margin of 12 lengths, Bally Legend finished fourth on the table.
Only three quarters of a length adrift of Caroline Keevil’s trainee, Battle Group ended up fifth whereas Afsoun and The Knoxs respectively completed the order of finish.
Tizzard was delighted to see his horse putting up a great show. He also confirmed Third Intention’s participation in next month’s Cheltenham Festival.
He stated:
"I was a little bit worried about coming here so quickly after Newbury but perhaps he needed it a bit there. He'll run in either the Coral Cup or County Hurdle at Cheltenham."
After the result, the bookies didn’t take much time to offer better credentials to Third Intention. Stan James shortened him to 14-1 (from 25) for the Coral Cup. In the mean time, he was cut to 12-1 (from 25) for the County Hurdle.
Tags: