Forever Blessed earns Grade 1 ticket after Sandown romp Harry Fry knows a top-class juvenile hurdler when he sees one and he appears to have another smart recruit on his hands in the shape of the strapping Forever Blessed, who powered clear to land the two-mile Pinsent Masons Introductory Juvenile Hurdle at Sandown on Friday by 18 lengths in the hands of Sean Bowen. The Zoffany gelding had won on debut at Ffos Las and followed up here at odds of 4/9 in fine style, despite showing little respect for a couple of hurdles. Fry said: “He had won well at Ffos Las when we didn’t really know what we had on our hands, as he had not run before. The first time I set eyes on him was a WhatsApp video of him cross-country schooling in Ireland at the age of two. “To win in the manner he did at Ffos Las was very pleasing and it was a case of seeing if that was a fluke or not. “We were keen to learn a bit more, waited for soft ground and it is all systems go for Chepstow on Welsh National day for the Grade 1 juvenile.” Bothwell Bridge looks an exciting chaser in the making for Nicky Henderson if his three-and-a-quarter-length victory in the Betfair Daily Rewards Novices’ Limited Handicap Chase is taken at face value. The six-year-old jumped with aplomb to score on his seasonal and chasing debut in the colours of Nick Mustoe, who is set to become chairman of Sandown Park in January, taking over from Peter Jenson, who steps down on Saturday. Nico de Boinville made plenty of ground over his fences aboard the 11-4 favourite and had plenty to spare to see off Mahler’s Promise. Henderson said: “I’m not sure he really wants three miles. At the moment he will definitely stay at this two and a half miles. “His jumping is his greatest asset and while the others were trying to press on the gallop, he could sit still and make it in the air the whole time. He will come on a fair bit for it. “He has been very good from the first fence he saw six weeks ago. He has always looked like a chaser and it is what we were always waiting for. He was always good schooling from day one. It was quite an exhibition — it was a bit showy, wasn’t it? “That is what he has always been good at and that is his strength at the moment. He is a good horse. “It was a nice race, since this is the first horse I’ve had running in Nick Mustoe’s colours.”
