Vautour wins at Ascot Vautour made a winning comeback with a battling defeat of Ptit Zig in the Stella Artois 1965 Chase at Ascot. The exciting six-year-old made all the running under Ruby Walsh and jumped well in the main apart from an error at the seventh-last fence where he seemed to take off too soon. He was quickly back on an even keel and looked set to win cosily turning in but Ptit Zig threw down a stern challenge from the second last and forced the 2/5 favourite to dig deep into his reserves. He found plenty for pressure to his credit and pulled one and three quarter lengths clear at the line while former RSA Chase winner O'Faolains Boy was never really going for Barry Geraghty after a lengthy absence and pulled up in front of the stands on the first circuit. Walsh said: "He made a mistake at the bottom of the hill second time round, but he was quite fresh going to post. I just thought he was rusty. "I was getting him to pop early on and then he came with a big one, the ditch,down the hill, and was spot on at the next. "We went a really good enough gallop. Ptit Zig had a run under his belt and was a good novice last year. He had match fitness. "Ascot does take horses to the left over fences. I don't know why. The fences down the hill are all angled and makes it look a lot worse than it is. "I wouldn't be worried about going left or right." Owner Rich Ricci believes there is plenty of improvement to come from his horse and is looking forward to tackling the King George on Boxing Day. He said: "I'd say he was about half fit today. "He's jumped a bit left which can sometimes happens at Ascot, but he needed the run badly and I'm pleased with the way it went. "I think we will get him fine-tuned for the King George and hopefully he is the horse we think he is. It was a great run and we're delighted with that. "I hope he's a Gold Cup horse but the King George will tell us a lot as to where we go for the rest of the season. "He's certainly got the speed to be two-miler, but Ruby and Willie say he will do anything between two and four miles."
