02 December 2023 , 17:47
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Gavin Sheehan played it cool to plunder the £250,000 Coral Gold Cup with a last to first ride on Datsalrightgino.
Rerouted to Newbury after snow claimed Newcastle, he had ten horses to overtake up the final straight. But that number was soon cut back to four, after some powerful galloping and bold leaps from the 16-1 shot.
Sheehan nipped past Harry Redknapp's runner Shakem Up'Arry with two to jump, the well-fancied Mahler Mission (15-2) in their sights. Pre-race stamina doubts faded away as Datsalrightgino outspeeded his Irish rival to the delight of his rider, locally-based like trainer Jamie Snowden.
Sheehan was originally due to make a 500-mile round trip for an encounter with two-mile titan Constitution Hill, riding the stable's Cheltenham Festival heroine You Wear It Well.
"I'm not crying now but I would have been if Newcastle had been on and I saw Datsalrightgino going past the line!" the Lambourn jockey said. "It's amazing how things work out. The further I was going the more confident I was getting.
Gales, snow and rain to batter country today with 80mph wind gusts
"I can't put into words how much it means. It's freezing and I'm sweating, the adrenaline is coming through."
The first two jump the final fence on a chilly afternoon at Newbury (Getty)Snowden was assistant trainer to Lambourn legend Nicky Henderson when Trabolgan won in 2005. Three years later, the former army officer branched out on his own – but he has soared to career best prize money totals in the last two seasons.
Datsarlightgino was the third seven-year-old to scoop the prize in five runnings, after Berkshire's big meeting passed an inspection to proceed.
"To be here standing in the winners enclosure, it's a dream come true," said Snowden. "As children we used to come and watch the race – it's a home fixture."
John McConnell, trainer of Mahler Mission, reported his horse lost two front shoes, going down by three and three quarter lengths. Monbeg Genius (13-2) was third and Eldorado Allen (18-1) finished fourth, but a mini gamble on 4-1 favourite Complete Unknown went astray.