McCoy shines on upgrade

Tony McCoy showed yet again just why he is the best in the business as he gave Upgrade a first-class ride to win the KJ Pike & Sons Racing In Wessex Chase at Wincanton today.

The 1998 Triumph Hurdle winner had failed to find his form so far this season, looking decidedly reluctant to race on his latest appearance when a distant third to Looks Like Trouble.

But with the McCoy factor in effect for the first time on the eight-year-old this term, Upgrade made all the running to run out an easy winner of the day`s feature contest, thrashing Whitenzo by 13 lengths.

Just in case Upgrade was considering repeating his antics of last time, McCoy made sure that Martin Pipe`s charge was first away as the tapes rose up and he was never passed, turning in some impressive jumps in the process.

Pipe`s son David was on hand to welcome McCoy and the 4-1 winner.

'Dad found a good race for him here and Tony said some of the jumps he got out of him were amazing,' said Pipe jnr.

'To me it looked like he was always going to win and hopefully the horse will have enjoyed it.

'The problem is that in handicaps he is always going to find one or two younger and better-handicapped horses so we`d like to find another race like this.'

Pipe jnr, who has a small yard of point-to-pointers next door to his father, went on to saddle a winner of his own when Horus took the Stewart Tory Memorial Hunters` Chase.

The seven-year-old has been trained by Pipe jnr throughout his racing career and made an impressive debut over regulation fences here, scoring under Ashley Farrant, by an easy length and a quarter from Torduff Express.

'He used to dive at his fences but he has got better and better with experience,' said the winning handler, who was celebrating his 29th birthday.

'He might have a run between now and the Foxhunters Chase, it depends upon the weather, but if he hadn`t jumped round here he was going to struggle at Cheltenham.'

Horus will definitely remain under the care of his present trainer for this season.

'And if dad wants him next season I might have something to say about it,' the birthday boy added.

McCoy, who led the cheers as Farrant returned to the winner`s enclosure on Horus, completed a 15-1 double as he booted Achilles Wings home in the Wincanton Annual Members Handicap Hurdle.

Trainer Karen George revealed that the improving six-year-old will now have a break before the County Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival next month.

Chives may also be Cheltenham-bound after justifying decent market support in the Betty Hunt Happy Birthday Novices` Chase.

Trainer Henrietta Knight`s husband Terry Biddlecombe nominated the Royal & SunAlliance Chase at the Festival next month as the gelding`s next target after seeing him benefit from a fine Jim Culloty ride.

The 5-4 favourite had come to grief on his previous outing at Kempton but given plenty of daylight at his fences here, Chives and Culloty were always going better than their rivals.

Asked to go past leader Dear Deal after the final fence, Chives responded gamely to edge home by three-quarters of a length.

The pair finished 29 lengths clear of Stand Easy, who led for most of the way.

'That was a nice performance and we`d have to think about Cheltenham,' said Biddlecombe.

'Why not? He jumps, he stays, he`s going the right way.

'He has been a slow-thinking horse but he benefited from a good ride today, Jim let him pop his way round to get his confidence back and he`s won without having to be hard on him at all.

'He`s a big raw-boned chaser, the sort who`d you`d have to look forward to going round Aintree in a couple of years` time.'

Another Comedy outstayed Claymore to take the Dick Reynolds Novice Hurdle.

Richard Phillips is having a fairly quiet time of things this season but the trainer has a nice prospect in this seven-year-old, who was winning for the fourth time in five races.

Phillips said: 'He was bought a couple of yearsago from Eddie Hales in Ireland and we gave him time.

'He had some nice bumper form and he is proving to be very much a stayer over hurdles.

'He has an entry in the SunAlliance Hurdle but it would need to be a proper test for him to run.

'If it was just good ground then we`d look for another nice little novice race somewhere and then send him novice chasing next year.'