'Where the hell is Huntingdon? We had no clue until now' - successful Brides Hill team enjoy feature win

Syndicate member Pat Murphy did not even know where Huntingdon was until he arrived by air from Dublin on Thursday morning, but he certainly knows now after Brides Hill ran away with the Listed Lady Protectress Mares' Chase under Keith Donoghue.

The 10-11 chance was cut into 8-1 (from 25-1) by the sponsors of the Mrs Paddy Power Mares' Chase for Cheltenham in March after providing Gavin Cromwell with back-to-back wins in the feature at the Cambridgeshire track.

Settled two furlongs off runaway leader Sacre Coeur in the early exchanges of the 2m4f contest, jockey Donoghue's confidence was rewarded when he swept to the front turning for home and completed a hat-trick on the mare, easily accounting for La Renommee to win by six lengths.

Murphy is one of six members in the successful Brides Hill syndicate, and said: "That was brilliant. The mare running out in front set it up for us and she won it by a mile and that's all that counts.

"In fairness to Gavin he picked out this race three months ago and told us we were coming here. All we said was, 'Where the hell is Huntingdon?' We had no clue. Anyway we flew into Stansted from Dublin this morning and everything has worked out well in the end."

Whether Murphy and Brides Hill jet over again for Cheltenham in March is still to be determined, but Jeremys Flame, the winner of this event for Cromwell and Donoghue in 2023, did go on to finish sixth at the festival.

Murphy added: "Whether we go to the Mares' Chase at Cheltenham after that we don't know, but it's a possibility. We'll wait for Gavin to make the call. He's a man of few words, but when he speaks it's best to listen."

Star turn 

Leading owner Bryan Drew was at the track to see the first horse he has in training with Harry Derham collect first time, when Kansas City Star scored in the opening 2m½f novice handicap chase.

Formerly with Gordon Elliott, the 16-5 chance made all the running to score cosily on his chase debut at the expense of Aggagio.

The winner had benefited from a recent schooling session under none other than Tony McCoy prior to his success, which was marred by the loss of favourite Immortal on the second circuit.

Kansas City Star makes a successful debut for the Harry Derham yardCredit: Edward Whitaker

Drew said: "He's got a lot of ability and had the race won at the bottom of the hill at Cheltenham last time but downed tools.

"We decided to move him as he's a problem child and I knew he was the sort of horse Harry does well with. He's only had him since December and for him to win like that is very satisfying. He's enjoyed being in front around a sharp track like this."

50 up 

Jonjo O'Neill hit 50 winners for the season when Beachcomber held off a wave of challengers to win the Pertemps qualifier. The 4-1 chance was steered to glory by O'Neill's son AJ in which the first four home qualified for the final at Cheltenham, including topweight Chantry House.

Gold Cup in the building 

The Cheltenham Gold Cup was at the track as part of its tour to mark the 100th staging of the race in March. Many racegoers took the chance to have their picture taken with the trophy in the Members Bar and later the Gurneys Bar.

The Cheltenham Gold Cup makes an appearance at Huntingdon

A Jockey Club spokesman said: "The Gold Cup started its tour on December 6 and has come here directly from the BBC studios at Salford where it appeared on Breakfast Time this morning."

Read this next:

Horse beaten 180 lengths in three completed hurdle races comes good at 40-1

Sign up to receive On The Nose, our essential daily newsletter, from the Racing Post. Your unmissable morning feed, direct to your email inbox every morning.