Cavern collects for former Coral Cup winners Triumph Hurdle-also-ran Jacovec Cavern gained a belated first jumps win today, causing an 18/1 upset to win Gowran’s Gerry Comerford Drilling Beginners Chase for trainer Paul Hennessy and jockey Richie Condon. Twice a winner on the Flat in the UK, the son of Sixties Icon had finished eighth of 15 at odds of 300/1 in Cheltenham’s 2023 Triumph Hurdle, but failed in 17 attempts to win over hurdles. Debuting over fences today, Jacovec Cavern led from the sixth fence and made the rest of the running to score by 2.75 lengths from John The Diva, to provide jockey Condon with a first success since April 2023. Hennessy, who previously combined with Condon to win Cheltenham’s 2021 Coral Cup, said “it was a long time coming but it’s great, and Richie did all the homework with him. We’ll be looking at anything from two-and-a-half to three-miles with him over fences. “You wouldn’t think a horse that was eighth in a Triumph Hurdle would take two years to win a race. Blame the trainer!” Quotes from Alan Magee
