Codd shows his Character Fresh from a treble at his local point-to-point in Lingstown, Co. Wexford on Sunday, Jamie Codd gave Character Building a supremely confident ride to win the Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup. The 16/1 chance was settled towards the rear in the early stages but made stealthy headway to take closer order as the field came down the hill. Codd was still sat motionless after jumping the final fence and only had to push out his mount to hold the challenge of Pretty Star by a length. Following the win William Hill made the John Quinn-trained nine-year-old 12-1 co-favourite for the John Smith's Grand National. For Codd this was not alone a first winner in Cheltenham but a first in Britain. Quinn said: "He's a very talented horse but he's been unlucky a few times. "He doesn't go on heavy ground and he got there a bit soon a few times but today was brilliant - he found more today. "We put a tongue-tie on him and I'm not saying it made the difference, but maybe he was messing with his tongue. "He (Codd) gave him a great ride, he was very brave on him. "It's easy to say it now, but even if he'd got beaten I would still have said he'd given him the perfect ride. "It's great to have a winner here. This is where everyone wants to win." Codd said: "He travelled great and John told me to get him into a lovely rhythm and get him jumping, because he has been a bit tricky in the past. "Today he has travelled supreme and when I asked him after the last, he picked up all the way to the line - it's fantastic. "John told me that when I was thinking of going (to the front) to count for 10 seconds, and that was what I did. "In fairness, the horse is great and he jumped super. "When you are on a horse like that you can afford to wait. "Once I turned in, it was just a matter of biding my time."
