Newbury field beaten by Bureaucrat
Bureaucrat, who threw away certain victory when falling at the final flight on his debut over jumps, made up for that lapse with a fluent pillar-to-post victory for Phillip Hobbs and Richard Johnson in the Karcher Juvenile Novices' Hurdle.
Carrying the colours of the 1986 Grand National winner West Tip, the four-year-old jumped superbly and despite going left at some of the obstacles was always in control.
The 3-1 chance stayed on strongly on the run-in to beat Backbord and Mahogany Blaze by five lengths and six.
With the ground quickening up under a warm sun, conditions were tailor-made for the Peter Luff-owned winner, who will now have his sights set on Aintree.
Liam Norris, who bought him on behalf of Luff, said: “The flat track and quicker ground should suit him at Aintree and that will be the next port of call as Peter is very keen to have another winner there 20 years after West Tip’s famous success.”
