Rubaud digs deep to give Nicholls another Pendil triumph

Rubaud battled back to give trainer Paul Nicholls a 14th victory in the Ladbrokes Pendil Novices’ Chase at Kempton.

Harry Cobden set out to make all on 5-4 favourite Rubaud, but Imperial Saint was snapping at his heels throughout as the pair set a decent pace up front.

They never really managed to build an advantage over the field, however, and only Bhaloo was clearly out of contention when the gallop turned up a notch, with Rubaud initially caught for gears and making a couple of notable jumping errors as Imperial Saint tried to assert.

Cobden managed to get his mount back on an even keel and he was back in front turning into the straight and while Boombawn and Mark Of Gold pushed him hard, Rubaud just kept finding for pressure to prevail by a length.

Nicholls said: “I’m amazed he won, going down the back I thought he was in a bit of trouble. I thought he was never going to win, but he came back and showed some class. He’s a tough horse.

“He hates the ground like that and it’s the first time he’s ever won on soft ground. He’s a much better horse on better ground.

“He had a hard enough race at Warwick in the Kingmaker and two weeks between is quick enough, but he toughed it out there and stayed on really strongly which obviously was a doubt.”

Rubaud’s success comes a week after Nicholls’ first Grade One victory of the season with Pic d’Orhy at Ascot and his latest Pendil hero will now be prepared for a shot at the Manifesto Novices’ Chase that opens Aintree’s Grand National meeting on April 3.

“We’ll freshen him up and go to Aintree for the two-and-a-half-mile novice race,” continued Nicholls.

“To do that and stay on strong just opens up some options, but the key to him is good ground. We can get him better than he was today and we’ll move on to Aintree.

“He’s pulled a front shoe off and when he’s done that he’s overreached as well, but it’s superficial.

“I’m delighted and we’ve had some nice winners now – the horses definitely haven’t been right through January, but they’re just getting there now and we’re looking forward to hopefully a nice spring where we’ll be doing the best we can.”

Philip Hobbs and Johnson White were out of luck with Imperial Saint in the Pendil, but got on the scoresheet via Saint Anapolino, who could have booked a ticket to the Cheltenham Festival when bringing up a hat-trick in the Ladbrokes ‘Big-Value You Can Bet On’ Handicap Hurdle.

White said of the 5-1 winner: “He’s kept improving in all his runs and is still reasonably green and not the easiest to settle, but he’s learning with every run he’s had and settled nicely today which he needed to do to get the extra trip.

“He’s got entries at Cheltenham and we’ll get him home and make sure he’s OK and check with the owners what is the best way forward.

“It’s a massive step up from what he’s done so far and he’s definitely progressive and going in the right way.

“I think a Cheltenham handicap would suit him down to the ground, it would be a fast-run race and he stays, while equally he travels, so I think he will be very well suited to it. In time he would get further as well but we’ll stick to this sort of trip for now.