Sir Geno put in a scintillating display to beat Ballybourne in a much-anticipated encounter in the Ladbrokes Wayward Lad Novices’ Chase at Kempton Park.
For the second time in two days, the second-tier competition witnessed an exciting clash between two powerhouse stars in Nicky Henderson and Willie Mullins.
As was the case in the Christmas Hurdle, in which Constitution Hill beat Lossiemouth, top prizes went to Seven Barrows – and in a way too.
Sir Gino, so impressive when deputizing for Constitution Hill in the fifth hurdle fight at Newcastle on his seasonal appearance, was the well-backed favorite at 13/8 to make a successful debut over the bigger hurdles under Nico de Boinville.
Ballyburn, a three-time Grade 1-winning novice hurdler last season who was near perfect on his chasing debut at Punchestown last month, was a 7/4 chance in the hands of Paul Townend.
The big two dominated most of the two-mile race, with Ballybourne dominating at the start before de Boinville gave a head to Sir Gino and allowed him to take the lead in the race back in the straight.
Ballyburn did his best to stay in the race, but Sir Geno continued to come out on top in the jumping stakes and found equipment that Ballyburn could not live with shortly after his home turn.
Sir Gino was in a safe position to race provided he cleared the final fence safely and he did just that to gain a very impressive seven-and-a-half-length reign.
“It was a bit sketchy in the first phase, but to be fair, by the time we turned into the open ditch, everything was fine,” de Boinville said.
“He came back to the ground so quickly after takeoff that he was going a long way through the air. We knew he had the engine, and it was just a case of seeing if he could put it all together.
“He has a tremendous motor, but it’s amazing here as the fences go up so fast and you have to stay put and you have to be able to jump fast and think fast.
“I would say he exceeded my expectations and I would say he stepped up the fence as well.”
While Sir Geno was entitled to head down the Champion Hurdle route after his success in the Fighting Fifth, Henderson always looked keen to continue a chasing career.
He told Racing TV: “I have to admit, a couple of months ago, Charlie Morlock (assistant trainer) and Nico and I took him out early one morning to have a quick look at him over the fences. It was dark and we thought we’d do it so everyone wouldn’t see him, but I I promise you that by the time we got back, everyone had backed him up in Arkle and hadn’t even seen him!
“He was very good, so we knew we had the option to switch, and then it became necessary to bring him to the fifth fight because we were not ready with the boy from yesterday (Dostor Hill). He came not like a substitute.” sub, because he is a very good horse in his own right, but if both were to make it to the Champion Hurdle route, one had to beat the other in no small terms.
“We taught Sir Gino back over fences and he was exactly the same – he has so much range. It looked natural for (the four-year-old) Badal going two real miles.
“If you remember his first run over hurdles here, he broke six of them! It was my fault because I didn’t teach him properly, I assumed he was going to jump because he came from France to get over the Auteuil hurdles. It never occurred to me that he didn’t know what these were stuff and he was terrible, but we taught him a few times after that and he was great.
Betfair and Paddy Power have cut Sir Gino’s odds on beating Arkle at Cheltenham to 11-4 and Henderson plans to give him more match practice between now and the Festival.
He added: “He has always had a lot of talent and this type of track suits him well because he has a lot of speed.
“I think he should have another round. You can say ‘what can you teach him?’. Maybe not much, but you just have to respect those things because it’s a bit easy for him today.” .
“This is a nice place to learn without having to take the big tests, which you would have at Sundowns, Ascots and Cheltenhams. They are different tests and you just have to be a little smarter than that. You need to get rounded up here, but this is a great place to start.”
“We were very lucky (with the two-mile chasers). Altior was amazing, Sprinter Sacre was exceptional, and Remittance Man in the old days was amazing too.”
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