Sir Gino produced a brilliant display to take part in the BetMGM Fighting Fifth Hurdle at Newcastle.
In a race that was always the designated starting point for his superstar stablemate Constitution Hill before he suffered a setback, Sir Gino stepped up to take on super-sub duties in Nicky Henderson’s Seven Barrows yard.
The unbeaten four-year-old had been earmarked for a novice chase and the way he jumped two from home suggests it would be right up his street.
However, always charging at his rivals in the straight, he immediately ran away from the rest after the last, with Nico de Boinville giving a winning salute at 6-5 favourites.
Market rival Mystical Power suffered a major upset when Mark Walsh sent out the distress signals after Willie Mullins’ five-year-old’s fourth ride.
De Boinville was understandably impressed.
He said: “First of all I would like to thank the racecourse for their efforts with the ground.
“He was pretty fresh out of the gates early on. He just missed one, going down the side, but that was only after I pulled him out wide to be fair. He seemed to learn a bit after that.
“He hit everyone straight and finished well.
“I really immersed myself in the atmosphere here, it’s great, I’ve never had such a reception anywhere else.
“He’s a very talented horse and we’ve always known that. To come and do that is impressive.
“I thought we had a nice run all the way and his only mistake was that I pulled him wide, but that was because I didn’t want to get stuck down the rail.
“You can see why we think he’s going to be a chaser, he’s got a chance to burn.”
Lavender Hill Mob won an eagerly awaited debut over hurdles
Lavender Hill Mob suffered a shock turnaround on his jumping debut, finishing well behind Inappropriate in Paul Ferguson’s Jumpers to follow up the Newcastle Introductory Juvenile Barrier.
Seventh in the Queen’s Vase at Royal Ascot, the reappearance of Lavender Hill Mob (2-7 favourite) has been eagerly awaited since trainer James Owen mentioned him favorably in post-race trips to Cheltenham stablemate East last month. After the runaway success of India Dock .
It looked relatively to plan until things started to heat up and Nico de Boinville’s mount was under water when the Jed O’Keeffe-trained Inappropriate Inappropriate (11-2) found out in what was his debut and first run. After leaving Harry Eustace for his new stable.
O’Keefe, whose little string is in good shape, said: “We’re very pleased, we decided to play this race. We won it a few years ago with a horse we bought at the sale (Peacock, 2019) and it was quite a small field that day, so we thought we could get a small field again.
Mismatched (orange) heads for home
“We thought it was a good place to start, even if he didn’t win, it was a good place to introduce him.
“We’ve always liked him a lot at home and his jumping has always been exceptional, there’s a really good rhythm and form to his jumping and it was the same today.
“We haven’t made any plans, if there’s another race like that that’s pretty valuable that would be great, but I haven’t really looked at it today.”
He added: “Juvenile hurdles are different these days, there are a lot of ex-French guys in them because showjumpers generally can’t compete with the overseas market, but we managed to find him so I’m delighted.”
