Found A Fifty finds just enough to win Fortria Chase and survives stewards' inquiry

Found A Fifty survived a stewards' inquiry to win the Bar One Racing Fortria Chase, justifying Gordon Elliott's decision to drop him back to two miles.

With Champion Chase winner Captain Guinness pulled up and Banbridge finishing a well-beaten fourth, the latter's stable companion Solness and rank outsider Senecia were the two to give Found A Fifty a race.

The 11-8 favourite, ridden by Jack Kennedy, seemed to wrest control of the contest away from that pair when clearing the second-last, but he jumped right at the last and took Solness with him, which provoked the inquiry.

Only a neck separated them at the finish and there were some concerned faces among the winning connections on seeing the head-on. But the stewards allowed the result to stand. Paddy Power reacted to the win by going 16-1 (from 33) for the Champion Chase at the Cheltenham Festival.

Gordon Elliott: trainer of Found A FiftyCredit: Patrick McCann

Of the winner, Elliott said: “Jack said he didn't feel as good today as when he last rode him. He thought down the back he was going flat out, then he probably made up too much ground from the fifth-last to the third-last. He just stopped in front.

“But that was a fair performance and he's a smart horse. He won't run in the John Durkan, I would say we'll go to Leopardstown at Christmas for the 2m1f Grade 1 and work from there.”

Joseph O'Brien was pleased with his pair. He said: “Banbridge ran a nice race, he jumped well and just got a bit tired. He will probably go to the Hilly Way Chase at Cork and then the King George.”

Most of O'Brien's praise was reserved for Solness, who was having his third run in just over three weeks after quite a hard race in the Clonmel Oil Chase nine days earlier. He said: “He ran great. He's been really consistent over the last while. The ground will probably be getting a bit too soft for him in the coming weeks. While the ground stays dry, he will stay on the go. We will see, he might go to the Hilly Way too if he has his ground.”

The 134-rated Senecia, at 200-1, and rated 29lb inferior to the winner was the revelation of the race, beaten just over a length into third under Phillip Enright. Trainer Vincent Halley said: “He has always had a lot of ability but he has always had a lot of issues and it's great to see him do what we thought he might be capable of. It's nice to have a nice horse for the rest of the season.”

Captain Guinness began to back-pedal exiting the back straight and was tailed off when pulled up early in the straight. Trainer Henry de Bromhead will have him tested in the coming days and it was too early to say whether it was another episode of the nine-year-old's atrial fibrillation issues, although it looked similar to the last time it struck when he was pulled up at Leopardstown last December.

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