Quito digs deep for Russell Quito De La Roque dug deep for Davy Russell to get the better of Sarando in a thrilling finish to the Grade 2 John Smith's Mildmay Novices' Chase. Colm Murphy's charge survived a mistake six out and stumbled quite badly on landing at the second last when disputing with Sarando. The pair battled it out all the way to the line, with Quito De La Roque (6/1) pulling out a bit extra to win by a neck from the 50/1 outsider, with Golan Way (8/1) two and three quarter lengths back in third. Several horses made mistakes, with The Giant Bolster coming down early on and Master Of The Hall well behind when falling at the second last. Russell said: "He's tough work and an idle old devil, but every time I ask him, he almost tries too hard. When I gave him a squeeze to jump, he over-jumps like he did at the second-last but he landed and gathered himself together and tried again for me. "There was no point in anybody saying whether he would or wouldn't go on better ground, because we didn't know. We weren't sure he'd handle the undulations of Cheltenham, so we decided to come here and he was always going to try better ground once." Murphy added: "He was obviously unknown on a bit of nicer ground but unfortunately the whole winter we had no choice but to run him on heavy. All credit to Davy and all credit to the horse. All the horse wants to do is gallop and try for you. "He'll pull himself up and he's a bit of a character, but he has a big engine and he'll keep digging. I'm not sure where we'll go next with him, but he's one to look forward to for next year. We'll dream away for the summer."
