MARTHA'S SON provided a display of rare class when beating three quality opponents in yesterday's Mumm Melling Chase at Aintree and confirmed himself as currently the best two-mile chaser around.
The connections of KIairon Davis might dispute that on soft ground, but even Arthur Moore's admirable horse would be hard pushed to make a decent attempt at demolishing the first fence and still treat horses of the quality of Strong Promise and Viking Flagship with disdain at the finish.
That is exactly what Martha's Son did yesterday, cruising up on the inside for Carl Llewellyn to win by five easy lengths and leaving Llewellyn to enthuse that even the Gold Cup may not be beyond the horse's capabilities.
"He's only got two speeds. He's either dossing or racing and the mistake at the first probably woke both of us up. Certainly a race like the King George should suit him and maybe even the Gold Cup. He'd just doss around the back until he was asked to race," Llewellyn said.
Such comments usually make the arch-pessimist Tim Foster wince but it's clear that Martha's Son has got under even his skin. "He's a great little horse. He's got two speeds, one idling and then he presses the afterburner and is off," he said.
Viking Flagship's chance disappeared with a mistake at the third last and trainer David Nicholson said: "He may well go to Punchestown later this month as he's a tough horse."
That was the only reverse in what is proving a beano of a meeting for Nicholson. A double yesterday brought his total for the meeting to five but while Sanmartino duly landed the odds in the opener, he had to sweat in the stewards' room to confirm that Forest Ivory would hold on to the Belle Epoque Novices' Hurdle.
The Aidan O'Brien-trained Private Peace was brought from last to first by Charlie Swan to throw down a challenge to Forest Ivory, which just failed by the minimum margin. As he returned to weigh-in, the stewards' inquiry was called and Swan said: "I might get this. He took me right across the track."
The stewards disagreed but Private Peace's part owner Vincent Daly was delighted with the performance. "My wife Ann runs New Co in the National. We've had a fourth, fifth and sixth in all in the race, so if we can improve on that we'll be laughing," Daly said.
Swan went to compensate himself when he brought the Martin Pipe-trained Cadougold from the rear of the Oddbins Handicap Hurdle field to arrive cruising at the last and accelerate clear.
The riding highlight of the day, however, was a magnificent treble by Richard Dunwoody, which put him clear in the competition for leading rider of the meeting.
Once Marello was withdrawn from the opener because of the ground, Sanmartino's task looked simple but Dunwoody had to ride him out to beat Courbrail. Sanmartino will next go to Punchestown.
Cyborgo looked a generous price in the Mildmay Novices' Chase, and in the end the 13 to 8 shot was just that as he battled on to win from The Last Fling, whose last chance went with a mistake at the last.
Dunwoody brought up the treble in the concluding handicap chase when making all on the top weight Unguided Missile. He gave the winner a beautifully judged ride to beat Cab On Target.
