Jezki wins dramatic Aintree Hurdle Jezki (3/1) ran out a wide margin winner of the Doom Bar Aintree Hurdle but victory in the Grade One was far from straightforward. Tony McCoy's mount had moved smoothly through the race as he ignored the pacesetters and stalked Ruby Walsh and Arctic Fire throughout. It looked momentarily that Volnay De Thaix, together with his stablemate Vaniteux and former Champion Hurdle hero Rock On Ruby, may have slipped the rest of the field down the back straight. However, the market principals made smooth progress through the field entering the straight and were side by side jumping the last with the rallying veteran Rock On Ruby fractionally behind. Jezki had appeared to be hanging going into the hurdle with Arctic Fire going marginally the better of the pair but the Champion Hurdle runner-up took a crashing fall, hampering Rock On Ruby and leaving Jezki to coast home in isolation. Both Walsh and Arctic Fire got to their feet, seemingly unscathed although Walsh gave up his one remaining ride on the card but was not seriously injured. "I'm fine, it's just a dead leg, and Arctic Fire is 100 per cent, thank God," he told Channel 4 Racing. It had been a disappointing campaign thus far for Jezki with Jessica Harrington's charge winless in four starts since scoring at Punchestown in May. He had only finished fourth in the defence of his Champion Hurdle crown but McCoy felt that a positive ride in pursuit of Faugheen had cost him second on that occasion. Ridden with more restraint over a longer trip and settling well behind a decent gallop set by Volnay De Thaix, the seven-year-old returned to somewhere near his best to claim a seventh top level success by an unchallenged 13 lengths. McCoy said of the Jessica Harrington-trained winner: "The two of us were racing between the second-last and the last and this lad has an inclination to go left, so I wanted to make sure I got the inside on him. "I thought stamina wouldn't be a problem, so I thought he'd stay and we don't know if Arctic Fire would have done. "He's won, that's the main thing. I'd spoken to JP (McManus) and Frank (Berry, racing manager) and we decided Ruby was the one to beat so why complicate it, I was happy to let Ruby ride the race and just track him. "Whether I'd have won or not I don't know, but I was in a position to make a good race of it. "I'm going to miss horses like him, it's nice he and I have finished on a winning note. I think circumstances have conspired against him, he's been taking on very good horses." Harrington said of last year's Champion Hurdle winner: "It's great to get him back in the winner's enclosure. He's been running into Hurricane Fly and then Faugheen at Cheltenham, so it's great he's won. "They've all been hard races and as defending champion you have to be ready for the first race of the year. We thought we had him spot on at Cheltenham and we were stepping back up in trip today. "I've no idea if he'll go to Punchestown." Harry Fry said of Rock On Ruby: "He's run his usual rock-solid race. He did well to stand up (after Arctic Fire) fell and Noel (Fehily) did well to stay on board. "We looked like we were being held at the time, but he ran really well and we're delighted with him. He is entered at Punchestown in the three-mile race, so we'll see how he comes out of this and make our minds up. "He was sick over Cheltenham, we had to get him right for this, and it's credit to him that he's still managed to finish second in a Grade One as a 10-year-old. "He's been a brilliant horse for us and continues to be so."
