O`Neill maintains winning ways

Jonjo O`Neill picked up where he left off as the second day of the Martell Grand National meeting got under way.

Fresh from a 577-1 double on the first day, he sent out 3-1 favourite Carbury Cross in the opening Martell V.S. Handicap Chase.

And the trainer made an immediate return to the winner`s enclosure as his gelding led from soon after halfway under Liam Cooper and came home a very comfortable 18 lengths clear of Enrique, with Macgeorge the same distance back in third.

'Blinkers and the ground have made the difference to him,' O`Neill said of the eight-year-old, who had been caught close home by Frenchman`s Creek in last month`s William Hill Chase at Cheltenham.

'The blinkers have kept his mind on the job and he is jumping better. And it is essential for him to have good ground.

'He is in the Scottish National and the Whitbread and we will have to see what happens.'

Victory provided a boost for owner Anne Duchess of Westminster, whose colours were carried by 1985 Grand National winner Last Suspect.

'The owner has been in hospital,' O`Neill said. 'A winner like that is the perfect tonic!'

Cooper`s success moved him to within one winner of leader Henry Oliver in the battle to be champion conditional jockey.

'It has been a fantastic season,' he said. 'I have to thank Mr O`Neill for giving me the opportunities. You couldn`t ask for a better boss.'