Favour And Fortune bravely fended off a whole host of rivals from title-chasing yards to claim victory in the Coral Scottish Champion Hurdle.
Alan King’s six-year-old swept past the Paul Nicholls-trained front-runner Rubaud but was then pressed hard by Bialystok, from the Willie Mullins Irish raiding party.
However, Favour And Fortune – who was sixth in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle at Cheltenham – kept on finding more for jockey Tom Cannon and his willing spirit got its just reward, as he rallied to score by half a length at 5-1.
The winning trainer told our reporter Gordon Brown: “It’s the first time since the start of the season that he’s been back on better ground, we’ve been running him on heavy and he’s such a good-actioned horse and his jumping was much better on better ground.
“He’s finished for the season – win, lose or draw, we were going to pull up stumps after today. Off the top of my head, I’d like to stay hurdling for another season, but we’ll enjoy today and worry about that in the autumn.
“He will make a chaser, but I think that could be farther down the line.”
Proud Scotsman King added: “I love coming back up here, back home, the place is buzzing and it’s a great atmosphere.
“Having done the three festivals, I felt Cheltenham was a bit subdued, Aintree was brilliant and this nearly tops them, it’s lovely to come back up.”
Welcome to the official YouTube channel of Racing TV, the UK's leading horse racing channel showing live racing from the best racecourses in Great Britain and Ireland.
Subscribe to Racing TV's free YouTube channel and get closer to the sport we all love. If you want to watch unmissable moments from the world of racing and exclusive interviews and highlights from our specialist shows then this is the place for you! https://bit.ly/2RHbyMa
You can also find us on Sky 424 or Virgin Media 536 (411 in Ireland): https://t.co/xkJ0xBrDcm
Also watch Racing TV at racingtv.com and via our iPhone, iPad and Android apps: https://t.co/CwcklwUMHs
