Walter Dennis yesterday hinted that he was unhappy with Jamie Osborne's riding of Coome Hill in the Hennessy Cognac Gold Cup. He reckons that the jockey should have ridden more of a waiting race on his top-weight, who won the Newbury contest in 1996 but was pulled up on Saturday after figuring prominently in the early stages.

"It was quite an extraordinary race with so many good horses pulled up, like Call It A Day and The Toiseach said Dennis.

"Those who went off in front early on didn't get home and we probably set the race up for Teeton Mill. The winner put up a good performance but nine of the 17 runners were pulled up which is an indicator of what was going on.

"There was a fair old pace going down the back straight for the first time and we would probably have been better sitting in behind. But it is too late now and these things happen."

Osborne defended his ride, claiming that his tactics gave him the best chance of winning.

"I know the horse very well and you can only ride it as you find it at the time. I felt that for this horse to have every chance of winning it needed to be a true test of stamina."