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Paddy Power Gold Cup 2011
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Great Endeavour Brings Johnson Seventh Paddy Power
12/11/11
1 Great Endeavour 8/1
2 Quantitativeeasing 20/1
3 Divers 20/1
4 Aerial 33/1
20 ran Distances: 7l, 3l, 4l
TIME 5m 1.95s (slow by 1.95s)
Owner David Johnson claimed his seventh victory in the Paddy Power Gold Gup as Great Endeavour provided trainer David Pipe with his fourth win at this year’s The Open meeting under Timmy Murphy.
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Pipe’s father, Martin, farmed this meeting during his time in charge at Pond House and won the Paddy Power Gold Cup no less than eight times. And Pipe junior continued the family tradition as Great Endeavour scooted clear to improve on his sixth-place finish 12 months ago.
The seven-year-old showed that running to be wrong when second over the course and distance subsequently and shrugged of a 217-day absence to win by seven lengths at odds of 8/1.
Johnson said: “This race was always the plan after things went wrong last year. He got left at the start slightly then but Timmy has made up for that and this is fantastic. Timmy gave him a great ride and listening to the commentator you would have thought that he was not in the race!
“The horse has a great racing weight on 10st 3lb and got a peach of a ride. This is like the old days! It is my seventh win in the race and David’s fourth winner at the meeting this year. It is nice for David who doesn’t have the same ammunition but he has got the horse spot on and no-one can do that like the Pipes.
“I have punched above my weight thanks to Martin and now David, as well as A P and now Timmy. It’s been a lucky day for me and it is a lucky course.”
Pipe said: “Plotting horses for races is the thing I find most fun about this sport. Some horses improve and surprise you and some disappoint but it is great fun.
“This horse is lovely to have - he has a big engine, has improved and this race has always been his target.
“This meeting is second only to The Festival and we always plan ahead for it. To have had four winners is unbelievable and it is always a special meeting for the Pipes.
“You are only as good as the horses you ride and it’s the same with the trainer. A lot of it is about confidence, whether you are a trainer, jockey, owner or horse. Great Endeavour had been flying at home - the head lad’s wife rides him all of the time - and he is a good work horse.
“He has always proven to be a good horse. He has won at the Hennessy on November 26, with the Martin Pipe-trained Celestial Gold having completed the double in 2004.
| Position |
Horse Trainer |
Jockey Weight |
Starting Price Beaten Distance |
| 1 |
Great Endeavour D Pipe |
T J Murphy 10st 3lbs |
8 - 1 Winner |
| 2 |
Quantitativeeasing N J Henderson |
A Tinkler 10st 0lbs |
20 - 1 7 lengths |
| 3 |
Divers Ferdy Murphy |
G Lee 10st 0lbs |
20 - 1 3 1/2 lengths |
| 4 |
Aerial P F Nicholls |
Ryan Mahon 10st 0lbs |
33 - 1 4 1/2 lengths |
| 5 |
Billie Magern N A Twiston-Davies |
S Twiston-Davies 10st 0lbs |
20 - 1 13 lengths |
| 6 |
Wishfull Thinking P J Hobbs |
R Johnson 11st 6lbs |
7 - 2 3 3/4 lengths |
| 7 |
Mon Parrain P F Nicholls |
R Walsh 10st 8lbs |
9 - 2 1/2 length |
| 8 |
Calgary Bay Miss H C Knight |
Hadden Frost 10st 2lbs |
20 - 1 6 lengths |
| 9 |
Fine Parchment C J Mann |
Peter Carberry 10st 0lbs |
33 - 1 Head |
| 10 |
Araldur A King |
R Thornton 10st 0lbs |
12 - 1 Head |
| 11 |
Dave's Dream N J Henderson |
B J Geraghty 10st 3lbs |
9 - 1 1 length |
| 12 |
Oiseau de Nuit C L Tizzard |
Brendan Powell 10st 9lbs |
33 - 1 5 lengths |
| 13 |
Finger Onthe Pulse T J Taaffe |
P Carberry 10st 2lbs |
33 - 1 10 lengths |
| 14 |
Swincombe Rock N A Twiston-Davies |
David England 10st 0lbs |
40 - 1 1/2 length |
| 15 |
Loosen My Load H de Bromhead |
A E Lynch 10st 9lbs |
16 - 1 2 lengths |
| 16 |
Holmwood Legend K Burke |
J W Farrelly 10st 3lbs |
33 - 1 5 lengths |
| UnseatedRider |
Poquelin P F Nicholls |
David Prichard 11st 12lbs |
25 - 1 |
| UnseatedRider |
The Giant Bolster D G Bridgwater |
T Scudamore 10st 2lbs |
10 - 1 |
| UnseatedRider |
Noble Alan N G Richards |
D C Costello 10st 0lbs |
20 - 1 |
| Fell |
Tullamore Dew N J Gifford |
L Treadwell 10st 0lbs |
20 - 1 |
QUANTITATIVEASING TURNS TABLES ON DIVERS
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THINKING STRUGGLED WITH BREATHING
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Wishfull Thinking was reported to have struggled with his breathing after fading to sixth in the Paddy Power Gold Cup after making the running.
Philip Hobbs’ eight-year-old was the subject of a gamble and, having been as high as 8/1 this morning, he was backed down to 7/2 favouritism. Richard Johnson’s mount then led for much of the race until dropping away over the final two fences.
Hobbs said: “He had had one breathing operation and had another during the summer.
“His breathing was very thick after the race and he may need another race or two to get him fit as he wasn’t getting the air he needed to.
“It was not a case of lacking fitness but more needing to get his breathing apparatus going again.
“I don’t know where he will run next - we need to discuss it.”
