Gidleigh Park to enjoy summer break before a big season next year

Harry Fry is excited to see what next season has in store for Gidleigh Park after his stable star rounded off an interrupted campaign with a pleasing effort at Aintree.

The seven-year-old endured a nightmare start to his career over fences in the autumn, but got back on track when defeating subsequent Cheltenham Festival hero Caldwell Potter in a Grade Two at Windsor in late January.

A further setback meant he missed the Festival, but he found only Impaire Et Passe too good at Aintree and Fry said: “We were delighted with his performance, especially as for all intents and purposes it was only his second run over fences.

“He ran a very good race, he was still a little bit novicey, but he hit the line and has beaten the Arkle winner, (Jango Baie) which just shows you how good a race it was. I think it was the second fastest renewal of the race, so I’m sure the form will be strong.

“Bryan (Carver) came back in and said he wished he’d gone half a stride quicker as there was still plenty left in the tank, but the winner won well on the day and for only our second proper start over fences it promises plenty for the future.”

With Gidleigh Park now set for a summer break, Fry is hoping his heart issues will not reoccur next season to give him the best chance of fulfilling his obvious potential.

“We’re aware of it and it’s just ongoing management. The good thing is we know we can manage it and with good horses things are rarely straightforward,” he added.

“Considering where we were after Kempton when he was pulled up after five fences, we’re delighted for him to end the season as he has.

“He came back from Kempton and won the Grade Two at Windsor, beating a Cheltenham and Aintree Festival winner, and then we had another setback which meant we missed Cheltenham, so for him to go to Aintree and run a race like that is highly encouraging and we’re leaving him on that note for this season.

“We look forward to hopefully campaigning him at the top level next year and I think he’s pretty versatile trip-wise. I’m glad the race the other day was the first race of the meeting as we got the best of the ground, we wouldn’t have wanted the ground any quicker than that.

“We’ve got plenty of options ahead of us and we’ll give him a good rest now before building him up in the autumn.”