'I was always confident they were going to come back' - some ride from ultra-confident Gavin Sheehan as he gets favourite home

There are as many ways to win a 3m chase as there are to skin the proverbial cat and a day after Freddie Gordon's fine front-running effort here in the Great Yorkshire Chase, Gavin Sheehan delivered a magnificent waiting ride on Some Scope.

He was ultra-confident on the 13-8 favourite, and although he was still last four fences from home he made smooth headway from there and ended up winning by a comfortable seven and a half lengths for trainer Richard Hobson.

Sheehan admitted he had not planned to come from so far back, and said: "I hold my hands up, I was a bit asleep at the start. I knew we were going to jump off and go quick but I thought my lad would be a bit sharper. We were further back than we wanted to be."

However, he added: "When he went through the gears, he gave me some feel. He's done that well. Good ground suits him, that was a really strong gallop and I was always confident they were going to come back to me. I was never under too much pressure."

Snow drop pays off

Last month's 3m2f winner Snowy Evening made a triumphant return to Doncaster, dropped back to 2m3f on the insistence of joint-trainer Josh Guerriero.

After landing the novice handicap chase by two and three-quarter lengths on the 15-2 shot, jockey Henry Brooke said: "Josh decided after Newcastle last time that we were going to drop him back in trip; he was very adamant that was the right thing to do and we put some cheekpieces on.

"He needs this ground and that was his best round of jumping for a long while – he wouldn't jump a hurdle, he was ignorant, he smashed through them and chasing has made him. There will be plenty more to come from him in years to come."

Champagne on ice for Sandown

Cheltenham is not the be-all and end-all and trainer Ben Pauling is eyeing a target three days before the festival with maiden hurdle winner Champagne Twist.

"He was in at the deep end on his first two starts and ran very creditably," he said of the 11-10 winner.

"He's improved again and will probably go straight to the EBF Final at Sandown. We bought him in May and he didn't do well physically, and he'll be a better horse when he gets a summer on his back."

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