Pyramid Place provided young conditional Bradley Harris with a valuable win when landing the Wasdell Group Silver Trophy Handicap Hurdle at Chepstow.
The Milton Harris-trained six-year-old was a 20-1 chance for the contest, worth nearly £40,000 to the winner, and was joined in the field by stablemate and 9-1 chance Twinjets.
The rider’s 5lb claim reduced the gelding’s allotted weight and though a relative outsider, Pyramid Place steadily gained ground on the outside of the field and picked off his rivals in the home straight to score by three and a quarter lengths whilst Twinjets came home ninth.
“He’s such a nice boy, don’t tell him I said that!” Harris said of the jockey on Sky Sports Racing.
“The horse has been wonderful, he’s been on the go all summer. He wants soft ground but it’s hard to train him properly in the winter as he bleeds on us.
“I have to say I thought the other horse was better, I thought the other horse would beat him, shows that the trainer knows nothing!”
The success was the second leg of a double on the day for Milton Harris, who won the opening Champion Hats Juvenile Hurdle with 10-11 favourite Balboa.
Dan Skelton’s Unexpected Party claimed Listed honours in the Happy Birthday Sue Novices’ Chase.
The 2-1 chance was ridden by Skelton’s brother Harry and defeated Paul Nicholls’ 11-10 favourite Knappers Hill to triumph by two and three-quarter lengths.
“We’ve got plenty of experience under our belt, today was a big day for this horse. Coming here for a Listed race, we haven’t thought much beyond here,” the jockey said.
“He ran some really good races last year and is still a novice, Dan picked the race out and today was a good day for him.
“The horse deserved his day. They’re a great bunch of guys that own him, no pressure at all, so I’d say we’ll have a day out for the Paddy Power and see how we go.
“He was stripped. Make no mistake, today was a big day for him at Listed class. I’m not going to stand here and say he’s going to improve 10lb, he might just because he’s a year older but he won’t be improving 10lb for fitness.”
