Windsor: Gidleigh Park shows true worth with Lightning strike for Harry Fry | Racing News happymamay

Harry Fry was equally pleased and relieved after seeing stable star Gidley Park get his season back on track with a maiden win in the Fitzdares Lightning Novices Chase at Windsor.

Always held in the highest esteem by his trainer, the seven-year-old won the Chepstow Bumper and made his first three starts over hurdles before finishing sixth in the Albert Bartlett Stakes at the Cheltenham Festival last season.

He was favorite to make a successful switch to the chase at Kempton in November, but was withdrawn after jumping five fences and was later found to be suffering from heart fibrillation.

As a result, Gidley Park lined up in this Grade 2 competition as a 15-2 outsider from four under Brian Carver, but it was clear from an early stage that he was relishing the task, making a strong run from the fall of the flag that left only 4-6 Caldwell Favorite Potter was able to live with it.

Grade 1-winning hurdler Caldwell Potter, €740,000 [£625,000] Purchasing on behalf of an ownership group that included Sir Alex Ferguson, he looked like a major threat early in the straight, but Gidleigh Park kept on running and was in front when he crossed the post four lengths in hand.

Personal Ambition was a further 19 lengths behind in third, with You Wear It Well in fourth from start to finish.

Fry said Sky Sports Racing“I think relief is probably the prevailing feeling, first of all that he came out and jumped and ran and hit the goal line hard.

“Today’s win was the icing on the cake as we wanted to see him back to his best and I am very happy to see him put in a performance like this. We are back on the right track and onwards and upwards.”

“We’ve had a lot of people help us restore it, a lot of people have put in a lot of effort, and it’s great to see the hard work paying off and the dream still alive.

“All summer I couldn’t believe I ran him at Albert Bartlett over three miles to be honest, because he’s not a slow horse, as he showed there today.

“We’re starting from scratch today, so we’ll go home and see how he gets out of that – obviously his wellbeing is of the utmost importance – and we can look forward to planning the rest of the season with him.”