'The price was ridiculous' - Wolf Moon shines to earn his place at Sandown for season finale

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The last time Wolf Moon was at Huntingdon he raced in the shadow of expensive Flat recruit Palladium. This time he had the stage to himself when battling home in the 2m novice hurdle.

The race was sponsored by Weatherbys Racing Bank and punters must have taken out plenty of savings to force Ben Pauling's strapping five-year-old into 1-3 from 8-11 in the morning.

It was not all plain sailing for investors, however, as Wolf Moon was headed briefly on the run-in by the persistent Galactic Charm before battling back to get the verdict by a short head.

The winner was pinhooked by jockey Marcus Foley and Pauling said: "He was vulnerable today and I thought the price was ridiculous. We had to come here to get another run into him to qualify for the novice championship handicap at Sandown next month, which is the last race of the season.

"He won't go up much for that and two miles around here was not ideal, but you can see he'll make a lovely chaser one day."

Jockey Ben Jones said: "He was still pretty green and we haven't got to the bottom of him yet. He jumped well, especially at the last, which won him the race."

Quinlan holds Court

Weatherbys sponsored the whole card at the Cambridgeshire track, including the 2m3½f handicap hurdle in which Cuban Court landed a gamble under Jack Quinlan.

Available at 3-1 in the morning, Neil King's improver was forced into 2-1 second favourite before landing his second win, beating Tarbat Ness by two and a half lengths.

The rider said: "Cuban Court is a consistent sort who stepped up well from two miles and there's no reason why he can't go further. He's a versatile sort and is a great horse for the members of The Bench syndicate."

Six in a row for Snowden 

The absence of Buckna from the opening 2m3½f maiden hurdle opened the door to the four remaining runners, including the strapping Datsalrightcharlie, who made all under Gavin Sheehan for trainer Jamie Snowden.

Datsalrightcharlie and Gavin Sheehan are led in after winning

The 10-11 favourite kept 16-1 chance Apieceovfortune at bay up the straight under to enjoy an unlikely first success over hurdles.

The jockey said: "It cut up into a poor race, but he had moved forward from his run in a bumper at Doncaster and is a nice chaser in the making. This was a bonus win for him to win so early in his career."

Sheehan and Snowden also won the bumper, the last race on the card, with Ride Like A Girl. Snowden also had a winner at Haydock, which made it six victories from his last six runners.

Raising a glass 

Officials at the track cheered home The New Lion in the Turners Novices' Hurdle at Cheltenham last week and with good reason, Dan Skelton's star had had a racecourse gallop as part of his festival preparation last month.

On what was billed as 'Cheltenham From Afar' raceday, clerk of the course Andrew Morris said: "It was great to see The New Lion win and Dan Skelton kindly sent us a case of wine after he came here with Grey Dawning after racing in February."

Grey Dawning also advertised the merit of that gallop by winning on his next start in the Listed Premier Chase at Kelso on March 1.

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