Caldwell Potter put an excellent bike of jumping to claim victory in Huryton Asphalt Franny Blennerhassett Memorial Mildmay Novices’ Chase on the second day of the Great National Meeting in Antre.
Harry Cobden as a winner at the Cheltenham festival, highly profiled Gray Paul Nicholls, such as the 11/4 joint favour for One Event along the Ben Pauling Standards, who lost a chance when he was strictly hampered by the fall of the dancing city.
In the front, Caldwell Potter was left to lock the horns with Jordans in the last stages, but another neat and fast jump last saw him pulling him out to win in good style, length and a quarter.
Nicholls said, “I liked it. He brilliantly jumped on the ground we were a little worried about, but I actually think he wants decent land as she moves.
“We had several headaches with his feet and have been a nightmare in the last 10 days. It’s like someone got a new pair of shoes and they didn’t fit right, you have to be in and hopefully we have it to the top and it’s a great, super horse.
“From Windsor (in January) he took a huge step forward and we soon worked out two miles, there’s no way. I can’t tell you what else is from that day to day.
Caldwell Potter jumped well when he finished twice the Cheltenham-ainntree
Last year he bought from Gordon Elliott’s court for 740,000 euros, many had Caldwell Potter down as an expensive flop after consecutive winter defeats.
His success of the handicap in Cheltenham, however, silenced several doubts, and now he saw his graduate charging at first level at Merseyside in the colors of late John Hales, with Sir Alex Ferguson one of those between the jubilant ownership group, Nicholls feels even more.
He added: “He will have a good summer and can come back and you can look at races like Betfair Chase and similar things. He must go with his left hand.
“Rome was not built in a day, we learn about it all the time, and it is fantastic for those boys and John Hales up there who put their money where his mouth is, and involved all his friends – is now a cheap horse!”
