Harry Fry was equal parts delighted and relieved to see the Gidleigh Park stable star get back on track with a leading victory in the Fitzdares Lightning Novices’ Race at Windsor.
Always held in the highest regard by his trainer, the seven-year-old won the Chepstow bumper and his first three starts over hurdles before finishing sixth in the Albert Bartlett at last year’s Cheltenham Festival.
He was the clear favorite to make a successful transition to racing at Kempton in November, but was stopped after jumping five fences and was later found to be suffering from cardiac fibrillation.
As a result, Gidleigh Park entered the Grade Two competition as a 15-2 outsider in a group of four under Bryan Carver, but it was clear from the start that he was enjoying the task as he galloped hard after lowering the flag, making only 4 -6 favorites Caldwell Potter was able to live.
Winning first grade hurdler Caldwell Potter, €740,000 [£625,000] purchased on behalf of the ownership group that includes Sir Alex Ferguson, he posed a big threat at the start of the home straight, but Gidleigh Park continued to gallop into the lead and was well ahead when he passed the post with four lengths in hand.
Personal Ambition was third, another 19 lengths behind, and You Wear It Well was last with four from start to finish.
Fry said Heavenly sports racing: “I think relief is probably the overriding feeling, mainly that he went out, jumped, galloped and hit the line hard.
“Today’s win was the icing on the cake as we wanted him to get back to his best form and of course I’m excited to see him perform like this. We are back on track and moving further upwards.
“A lot of people helped us get it back, a lot of people put in a lot of effort and it’s great to see that the hard work has paid off and the dream is alive.
“Honestly, all summer I couldn’t believe I ran over three miles with him at the Albert Bartlett because he’s not a slow horse like he was shown today.
“We started from scratch today, so we’ll go home and see how he handles it – obviously his well-being is paramount – and we’re looking forward to planning the rest of the campaign with him.”
