Spinner too strong for Long Walk rivals Jedd O'Keeffe thinks he has "quite a nice horse" on his hands after Sam Spinner made all the running to provide the North Yorkshire trainer with a first Grade One winner in the JLT Reve De Sivola Long Walk Hurdle at Ascot. Successful in a handicap at Haydock last time out, the five-year-old was stepping up markedly in class and duly fended off all-comers as a well-backed 9-2 chance in the hands of Joe Colliver. Big leaps at the last two flights meant Colliver was able to keep the revs up, and L'Ami Serge, the last to challenge having travelled up strongly on the bridle, could never quite get on terms. Unowhatimeanharry, the 6-4 favourite, was third. In 2011 O'Keeffe was diagnosed with cancer in his throat and neck and almost gave up training. "I can't quite believe it and needless to say I'm absolutely thrilled. I'm thrilled for the jockey, thrilled for Paul and Karen (Chapman, owners) and thrilled for us. It is really special," said O'Keeffe. "He has shot up the rankings and we had to take a little bit of a leap of faith coming here, but it has paid off. We've got quite a nice horse, I think. "I didn't think his jumping was as slick as I have seen it. I feel we can tidy that up a little bit and we could get a pound or two improvement. "When I saw L'Ami Serge coming up I was gravely worried. As we watched the race gradually we could see Lil Rockerfeller weaken a little bit and then Unowhatimeanharry coming under pressure. I then started to think 'this might happen', then L'Ami Serge came and I thought 'it's not going to happen', but it did. "It's a landmark victory for us. People have said to me what is my ambition in racing and I've said I'd love to train a domestic Group One winner on the Flat, but this feels pretty good, a Grade One winner jumping. "He is the best jumper I've had by a long way and overall I would have to say he is the best I've had. We are lucky, last year we had a couple of nice Flat horses but he probably is the best overall." Paddy Power cut Sam Spinner to 5-1 from 25-1 for the Stayers' Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival in March and O'Keeffe raised the possibility of that being his next race. He said: "We'll have a discussion with the owners. He's a very easy horse to keep fit and fresh, so I'd personally be quite happy if we made Cheltenham our target now. "There aren't too many options now and possibly Cheltenham will be the next target." The victory completed a remarkable career turnaround for Colliver, who was jailed for 10 months last year after lying about the circumstances of a car crash over the Christmas period two years ago, being released early after serving almost three months of the sentence. Colliver said: "The last time I rode him it was the biggest winner of my career and it just keeps getting better on this lad. "It didn't feel like we were going that fast until we started to turn in (to the home straight). He just loves being out in front and jumps so good. "I felt like he was idling a little bit on his own and every time something has jumped up to him he's gone on. I was hopeful he was holding a bit back." Nicky Henderson said of L'Ami Serge: "He has done everything right. He has got there and just couldn't get past him, it was as simple as that. He likes good ground, but this isn't bad ground. He has run a great race. "He does finish second a lot. You think you have got there and will get past, but that is a tough horse, fair credit to them. "I don't know where we will go next." Harry Fry said of Unowhatimeanharry: "He was not good enough. He was beaten by younger legs. There were no excuses. The winner is a five-year-old going the right way and he couldn't live with him. "We are obviously not getting any younger and we are naturally disappointed. There are no excuses and he was beaten by a better horse on the day."
