Cheltenham Festival winner Iroko impresses on chasing debut

Warwick Racecourse was treated to a spectacular chasing debut on Tuesday afternoon as Iroko cruised to success under a motionless Jonjo O’Neill Jnr.

Last season’s Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle winner oozed class from pillar to post for the up-and-coming training operation of Oliver Greenall & Josh Guerriero, beating Paul Nicholls' Golden Son on the bridle by three-and-a-quarter lengths.

Sporting the famous green and gold hooped silks of owner JP McManus, he was sent off as the 11/10 favourite on his first start over fences having won at the Cheltenham Festival in March before his third-place finish in a Grade 1 over three miles at the Aintree Grand National meeting one-month later.

“He made a couple of mistakes, but that was almost foot-perfect,” said Greenall. “We thought he might have liked three miles, but he’s travelled like a dream over two-and-a-half today so we’ll probably stick to two-and-a-half for the time being.

“Those fences at Warwick come up quickly, and he slightly missed the ditch down the back straight and just went through it, but Jonjo [O’Neill Jnr] said he was brilliant apart from that.

“He’s such a nice horse, he’s an absolute gentleman of a horse, and he has been schooling so well at home that you would hope he could be something serious.”

The big topic of debate surrounding Iroko in the post-race paddock was regarding which distance he would be campaigned over going forward.

When asked if Kempton’s Grade 1 Kauto Star Novices’ Chase over three miles on Boxing Day would be considered, Greenall said: “Possibly - on a tighter track like Kempton and on better ground you could go three miles, but we will see how we go.

“He looked like he would want a trip at Aintree. I think he maybe had a hard enough race at Cheltenham and just ran a little bit flat, so maybe that wasn’t his true reading.

“I think we will probably go for another race like this to give him a bit more experience.”

Also in attendance at Warwick on Tuesday was 20-time jumps champion jockey AP McCoy on behalf of owner McManus.

The legendary rider was impressed by the performance displayed and he shared his opinion on Iroko’s future plans.

“He was a bit slow to come to hand and he's a fine big horse, so I’d say he’ll improve in time,” said McCoy. “He’s a big stamp of a horse and he just took time in the first year that we had him.

“He looks to have enough pace to travel away and hopefully he has plenty of stamina too.

“What I was surprised about today was how well he travelled; he looked like a horse who could go back in trip and sometimes that’s a good thing. Early in the year, it’s good to have options and he didn’t look like a slow horse there.”

Just over an hour before Iroko’s victory, Cheltenham-based trained Ben Pauling unveiled Personal Ambition, a €65,000 purchase from the point-to-point scene, who comfortably beat the well-fancied Jingko Blue in the first division of the two-mile three-furlongs novice hurdle.

Despite his unfavourable market position at 12/1, he surprised Pauling on his first racecourse start, as he said: “He does what he needs to do at home, he’s not flash, his jumping has been average, but he obviously has a big engine.

“I loved him on his form in Ireland but with the way the betting was, and the amount of crossbars I’ve hit recently, I thought I may as well hope for a place so I’m obviously delighted.”