Royale Pagaille wins the Betfair Chase again at Haydock Park

Royale Pagaille wins the Betfair Chase again at Haydock Park

Venetia Williams's 10-year-old lands the feature on Merseyside for second year in a row to give owner Rich Ricci his 100th Grade One victory

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Royale Pagaille (11-4) battled to secure a second successive victory in the Betfair Chase at Haydock Park to give owner Rich Ricci his 100th Grade One success on Saturday afternoon.

The 10-year-old – who loves Haydock and testing conditions – got back up to triumph and deny the Dan Skelton-trained Grey Dawning (15-8 favourite) a statement success. In a typically gruelling contest, Royale Pagaille, tried to lead from start to finish. But having been headed after the final fence by Grey Dawning and Harry Skelton, he battled back to get back in front and score by two lengths with Bravemansgame a further 10 lengths back in third.

Royale Pagaille had not run since falling in the Cotswold Chase at Cheltenham in January, but he has been slowly been nursed back to health by trainer Williams and with everything in his favour he scored again at his beloved Haydock, where he has now won five times and been second once.

The famous pink and lime-green spotted colours of American owner Ricci have been a massive presence on the race tracks in Britain and Ireland ever since he landed his first Grade One with the Willie Mullins-trained Mikael D'Haguenet in the Ballymore Novices' Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival in 2009. And although Irish and British champion trainer Mullins has provided Ricci with 98 of those successes and many of those horses have been more talented than Royale Pagaille, the owner couldn't have been more pleased for him the gutsy 10-year-old to bring up the century at Haydock.

Ricci said: "You always want that sort of head-to-head, fantastic finish. That’s what makes the sport so great and this fella, he’s not a Gold Cup horse maybe, but he tries and he loves this course. When he got passed, I thought, fine, we’re going to be second, but to come back and win is incredible.”

Royale Pagaille became the fifth multiple winner of the Betfair Chase joining four-time hero Kauto Star, Silviniaco Conti, Cue Card and Bristol De Mai and was cut to 20-1 (from 40) with Betfair for the King George VI Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day. Skelton's runner-up Grey Dawning remains unchanged at 6-1.

In the winners' enclosure at Haydock Williams watched on moments after Royale Pagaille's success as stable-mate Martator scored again at Ascot. She also won the last race at Haydock with Fontaine Collonges taking the Best Odds On The Betfair Exchange Handicap Chase also ridden by Deutsch.

She added: "It was unbelievable because he was beaten wasn’t he? He has had to do all the hard work and has been a bit careful at the obstacles in this ground. He is a horse I’m obviously very proud of and Rich has got a very nice horse to carry his colours in this country. I bought him as a four-year-old and I’m sure Rich won’t mind me saying that it took me a year to get an owner for him!

“I knew in the summer that there was a possibility that rich could get his 100th winner here. We’ll see as to the future. He has been second in a King George and won the Peter Marsh here twice – he would have been back for a third last season but it was abandoned. The ground is key for him, and he usually doesn’t get it after February going into March but who knows maybe this year will be different.

“Haydock is similar to Newbury where he has also run well in that it is dead flat but he doesn’t usually get his ground there. He has a low head carriage and the way he carries himself means galloping tracks suit him better.”

Winning jockey Deutsch said: "He's got such a lovely attitude and he's such a kind-natured horse. For him to do it twice just sets it in stone. It wasn't as pretty today, we had to set the fractions and some of the fences we took with us, but I think that's because the ground was hard work and he was just being economical. I kept him going forward but when Harry (Skelton) came to us I thought we were beat. God, he really tries hard. He really had to dig deep and the only thing that made me think we had a chance was that Harry was very slow over the last and I think it was just genuine character that got him across the line."

Skelton’s rising seven-year-old Grey Dawning couldn't take the next step up the chasing ladder with victory but he lost nothing in defeat. Grey Dawning, who started his rise through the novice ranks with victory on this day at Haydock last year, was second this time. The grey, who also won the Grade One Turners’ Novice Chase at the Cheltenham Festival last March, but couldn't up the Grade One double in the Close Brothers Manifesto Novices’ Chase at the Randox Grand National Festival at Aintree Racecourse in April. After his belated return he may still head to Kempton for the King George next month before a possible crack at the Gold Cup, for which he is a general 16-1 chance, back at Prestbury Park in March.

His Warwickshire-based handler said: “I’m just gutted to get beat but at the end of the day the winner is a hard horse to beat and I take my hat off to him. It looked like we had him beat but he found a little bit more. I don’t know if he didn’t stay the last 50 yards or if it was the ground. I’m sure he does stay because if he doesn’t then who does? It was pretty attritional out there. He has improved on last year for sure – look at what he has just done. It’s disappointing to get beat but I’m delighted with the horse. He jumped superbly and I think there is still plenty to come. You might not see him for a while now – I’ve just got to get him absolutely right.”

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