Fine Week Continues For Yeats In Cheltenham Grade 2
Saturday saw Chantry House (8g Yeats - The Last Bank, by Phardante) lead home a 1-2-3 for Coolmore NH sires in the Grade 2 Cotswold Chase at Cheltenham.
Sent off favourite under Nico de Boinville, Nicky Henderson’s charge tracked the leaders for much of the way and was asked to quicken from the third last. Asserting at the penultimate fence, he stayed on well up the straight to hold off Santini (Milan) by two and a half lengths, as Aye Right (Yeats) kept on for third.
Speaking after the race, the winning rider said, “He deserves to go for the Gold Cup after that and the race should put him right. He's a strong stayer and the New course at Cheltenham, which is a galloping track, is what he wants.”
Saturday’s win marked a 4,000th success for owner JP McManus, who has also celebrated Grade 1 glory on two occasions with Chantry House. Michael Hyde purchased the son of Yeats for £295,000 after Cian Hughes trained the bay to win a Four-Year-Old Maiden. He is the best performer bred by Evergreen Stud’s Michael Conaghan out of The Last Bank.