Chris leads the way in Ryanair

Captain Chris successful in the Arkle at Cheltenham, confirmed his position as the season's top two mile novice chaser by landing odds of 4/6 in the Grade 1 Ryanair Novice Chase.

Richard Johnson sent him on at the fourth last and, after Realt Dubh (3/1) threw down a strong challenge in the straight, a mighty leap at the last settled the issue for a length and a quarter verdict. Sweeps Hill was withdrawn after being kicked at the start resulting in a 5c in the € deduction to winning bets, while the field was further reduced when Osirixamix fell at the second.

Winning trainer Philip Hobbs said: “We always felt two miles was on the short side for him. I know he won the Arkle but they say you need a two and a half mile horse to win that. We've often talked about going further with him, and ideally we would like to start him off over two and a half miles next season. The Amlin Chase (2m3f) at Ascot or the Haldon Gold Cup (2m2f) at Exeter are possibles.

“We are half thinking of the King George for him but obviously that's three miles and we don't know about that yet. Richard is very adamant that good ground is what he needs but he's a big horse and would not want it too firm. Soft ground in the depths of winter is not ideal.”

Alan Magee