Shan leaves his rivals feeling Blue in debut demolition

Shan Blue made his chasing debut a winning one after sweeping aside his seven rivals with ease in the SixT Car Hire Novices Chase at Wetherby.

Shan Blue ( closest to camera ) in action during the Ballymore Leamington Novices Hurdle at Warwick in January

A winner of his only point to point at Turtulla in November 2018, he was sent off at a general 5/4F after a good season as a novice hurdler last year which recorded one win and some well placed efforts behind some classy hurdlers such as Shishkin in the Sidney Banks at Huntingdon and Envoi Allen in the Ballymore at the Cheltenham Festival.

Setting off on the near 2m 4f trip, the lead was dictated by Sirwilliamwallace and Ryan Mania, who took the field along to the first where Champagne Well made an error and jumped out to his left.

No serious or notable errors were made at the next two fences, where at the first ditch, the third, Shan Blue took up the lead on the inside of Sirwilliamwallace, with Rob The Getaway and One Night In Milan also taking closer order to make it four in a line almost over it.

At the fourth the race sort of fell apart. One Night In Milan blundered badly on landing at the fence, forcing jockey Sean Bowen to lose his irons in the process. Rob The Getaway clipped the hooves of One Night In Milan and came down, the horse completely not at fault for him having to unship Alan Johns. One Night In Milan was taken out of the race straight away by Sean Bowen, having failed to regain his irons, but in the process carried out Howling Milan and Robbie Dunne as well, ending their chances of competition in the process. Thankfully all horses and jockeys were none the worse for the incidents.

Heading into the country for one more circuit of the Yorkshire course it was Sirwilliamwallace who took them along, having regained the lead from Shan Blue, who in turnk was just ahead of Champagne Well, while General Custard and Repetitio brought up the rear.

At the 11th Champagne Well dived at the fence, not his most fluent of leaps, and at the final ditch, 4 out, Champagne Well again dived at it, this time colliding with Shan Blue on the way over it, both jockeys doing well to maintain the partnerships.

Heading around the final turn Paddy Brennan was getting to work on Champagne Well as he started to drop off the tail end of the two up front, while at the rear of the field General Custard was looking at his chances becoming thinner as he began to struggle.

At 4 out Shan Blue was produced by Harry Skelton to take it up, a fine leap putting him into the lead. At 3 out he was 5 lengths up on his rivals as David Noonan sent Repetitio into the fray in an attempt to reel in the leader. At 2 out another foot perfect leap from Shan Blue gave his rider enough time to take a glance in behind, the rider oozing as much confidence as his mount was oozing enthusiasm and class. General Custard had thickened his jumping and began to rally in behind, but would only ever be booked for place money.

Another superb leap at the last saw the race sealed for Shan Blue barring any slip-ups on the run in. If there had been any punters on course they could have been collecting their winnings early, for the race was settled early in the home straight and Shan Blue strolled in for a comfortable and easy 14 length demolition of his and his jockey's rivals. Repetitio stayed on for second, while Champagne Well just managed to keep General Custard at bay for third.

It can be expected that something like the Steel Plate and Sections Novices Chase at Cheltenham in November may await the winner for their next start. One thing is for certain however, in that he already looks to be going far further than he did over hurdles as a chaser.