'It's a bizarre situation' - quick ground leads to walkover for Captain Teague in £40,000 novice chase at Exeter

Captain Teague was the beneficiary of a walkover in the £40,000 novice chase at Exeter after the other two runners were taken out due to the quick ground.

Last season’s Challow Novices’ Hurdle winner, trained by Paul Nicholls, was set to make his chasing debut but had to jump no fences, with Harry Cobden’s mount only required to gallop from the furlong marker to the winning line.

Deafening Silence was first taken out of the race just before 1pm, with trainer Dan Skelton withdrawing four runners on the card due to the going, described as good. Sue Gardner took the same stance with Daring Plan, the initial outsider of three, after the second race at 1.15pm.

Nicholls said on ITV: “It’s a bizarre situation. Sue obviously thinks the ground is fast enough and I’d say the chase track might be a bit slippery.

“It’s no one’s fault - the ground has just dried up and they can’t water here. Welfare is a big issue with horses and trainers have to do the right thing by their horse. You can’t take any chances and if you have a horse who wants a bit of cut in the ground then you’re not going to run."

He added: "We all want to run and if that was good to soft, there would have been ten runners. Nobody is trying to be clever. We’re fit for another day, he’s a nice horse and we can’t wait to get going properly. We’ll go back to the drawing board and find something else."

Champagne moment

The celebrations will feel extra special for Alan Baxter after he scored his 150th success as an owner when Skyjack Hijack completed a five-timer in the 2m5½f novice hurdle.

Baxter, who has a strong association with trainer Jennie Candlish, has identified a possible tilt at the Cheltenham Festival with the six-year-old, who ran out an emphatic 26-length winner from Captain Bellamy.

Alan Baxter (left) celebrates his 150th winner as an owner with Skyjack HijackCredit: Edward Whitaker

He said: "There’s an Albert Bartlett qualifier at Cheltenham next month and I think we’ll consider having a crack at that. You never know if they will go at Cheltenham, so we might run him in the qualifier, give him a break and then come back for the big one.

"He was up against better quality horses today and he’s improved again. It’s a special day for me, so I think we might be celebrating."

Winning jockey Jonjo O’Neill jr added: "He was pretty impressive and everything was in his favour. He’s obviously been running all through the summer and he’s on a high at the moment, but he gave me a good feeling and I’d say it wasn’t a fluke."

Welcome success

Barry Fenton believes Tightenourbelts is "back on track" after his successful return to fences in the 3m handicap chase.

The seven-year-old, whose victory was a third on the day for Cobden, returned to the winner's enclosure for the first time since Ludlow in November last year.

Fenton, husband to trainer Emma Lavelle, said: "We’ve always liked him and he was so impressive the day he won at Ludlow, but he’s been a bit disappointing since. He seems well at home and his Chepstow run last time put him spot on for this. 

"He got into a lovely rhythm and he seemed to go at it without doing too much. I think we’ll stay over fences, but the hardest thing will be trying to get his ground over the winter. We’re delighted and we’re back on track."

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