'Shades of Cyrname' for Johnny de la Hey as Pic D'Orhy fills void left by superstar chaser

Watching Pic D'Orhy attack his fences from the front in Saturday's Grade 1 Betfair Ascot Chase brought back memories of Cyrname executing the same tactics on more than one occasion at the royal racecourse for owner Johnny de la Hey.

Cyrname romped to a 17-length victory in the same race in the colours of De la Hey's wife, Samantha, in 2019 and later the same year inflicted a first defeat over fences or hurdles on Altior in the Christy 1965 Chase.

After Saturday's victory, Pic D'Orhy has now won the same two races for De la Hey at Ascot, and the owner admitted that there was a moment when Pic D'Orhy served it up to his Ascot Chase rivals that he could quite easily have been watching Cyrname.

"When he was going down the back there were shades of Cyrname," said the owner. "It's hard to replace Cyrname but he's a pretty good substitute."  

It has not all been plain sailing for Pic D'Orhy, who was by no means a natural when first tried over fences in 2020, but has since developed into one of the top chasers in Britain under the expert tutelage of champion trainer Paul Nicholls and regular rider Harry Cobden. 

Johnny de la Hey (second left) with Cyrname, Claude Charlet, jockey Harry Cobden and wife SamanthaCredit: Mark Cranham (racingpost.com/photos)

"In his first season as a novice chaser we decided that he wasn't going to make it, so we gave him a break and put him back over hurdles and that's the best thing we could ever do," said De la Hey.

"We absolutely love him. When you've had a horse like Cyrname he's hard to replace but Pic D'Orhy has won us a Betfair Hurdle and a couple of Grade 1s and I think he's a great horse."

Pic D'Orhy's rider Cobden took the initiative from the start in Saturday's Grade 1 and the duo never saw another rival as they registered a five-and-a-half-length win over L'Homme Presse and De la Hey revealed those front-running tactics were only hatched in the paddock before the race. 

"When Harry came into the parade ring he said he wasn't sure that they were going to take him on and I said to him, if you can nick a lead take it. When he got a lead like he did, I was as confident as you can be," the owner added. "He's been a pretty solid jumper in recent times. He took the top off a couple going down the back but I thought he was very good."

Pic D'Orhy holds an entry in the Ryanair Chase at next month's Cheltenham Festival but is set to miss that meeting and instead bid for a repeat win in the Grade 1 Melling Chase at Aintree in April.

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