Cape Tribulation delivers for Jefferson

“That was nice,” he said after Cape Tribulation pulled clear to win Wetherby’s Betfair Rowland Meyrick Chase by an imposing 11-lengths.

But the Malton trainer, victorious in the same race 12 months ago with the much missed According To Pete, could not have been more precise when he gave the big-race riding instructions to Jack Doyle who was riding the Cheltenham and Aintree winner for the first time.

“Mr Jefferson told me ‘if he settles and he jumps he should win’,” said 23-year-old Doyle, a once highly-promising jockey who now struggles for opportunities after splitting from the yard of Emma Lavelle.

“It was a nice ride to get. My agent rang me Sunday morning and said I could go elsewhere for a couple – or come to Wetherby for one in the big race. It was a no-brainer. The horse had plenty of weight but he’s class and it showed.

“I didn’t need to speak to any of the horse’s previous riders, Mr Jefferson made it very straightforward.”

At 6ft 2ins, Doyle is one of the tallest jockeys in the weighing room, and even though Cape Tribulation had 11st 10lb to carry, the Lambourn-based jockey could only enjoy a modest Christmas meal.

The pace was steady in front of a packed 10,000-plus crowd – dual Scottish National winner Merigo leading the three mile-plus Rowland Meyrick that was first run in 1957 in honour of Wetherby’s long-standing clerk and which has produced two Gold Cup champions in The Thinker and Forgive N Forget.

It was Shane Byrne on Sue Smith’s Mr Moonshine who was the first to make his move, Doyle biding his time, but the outcome was never in doubt once Cape Tribulation picked up when turning into the home straight.

It was the horse’s ninth win from 32 starts – Mr Moonshine held on for second with the favourite Ballyoliver third.

Jefferson’s face beamed with pride as he led the nose-banded victor back into the winner’s enclosure; the Malton trainer slapping the horse with palpable pride as he acknowledged the acclaim of the packed paddock.

He was not surprised by the result.

The horse, he said, had won on heavy ground previously and that he’d got the tactics totally wrong when asking Cape Tribulation to set the pace in the John Smith’s Hurdle at Wetherby early last month.

“I made a right mess of it,” said Jefferson, reflecting on the race which was won by the enigmatic Tidal Bay.

“But we all make mistakes – I’ve not met a fella yet who hasn’t done anything wrong.”

It is likely that Denis O’Regan, who was luckless at Kempton yesterday, will be back in the saddle when Cape tribulation reappears, though Jefferson told Doyle that he “tops the list of reserves”.

Doncaster’s Sky Bet Chase is a possible target, though Jefferson said an emphatic “no” when asked if the Grand National was a longer-term target.

This victory had particular poignancy for the Jefferson stable; last year’s winner According To Pete lost his life in the most unfortunate circumstances at Aintree when brought down at Becher’s Brook.

It was fitting that ‘Pete’s owners, the Nelson family from Helperby, were at Wetherby to support Jefferson’s bid for a Rowland Meyrick double.

On a day for tall jockeys, John Dawson, another rider who is more than six feet tall, won the opener on Mannered – the favourite Avenging Ace, a £120,000 purchase for Donald McCain’s horse, unshipped conditional jockey Paul O’Brien early on.

It left Mannered clear of Knockando, the sole remaining rival, and he held off the fast-finishing runner-up in a pulsating race.

Though tall, Dawson recently left the amateur ranks to become a conditional jockey – and rode his first victory as a pro last week at Catterick.

Neptune Equester won the handicap hurdle for Malton-based Brian Ellison and jockey Kyle James while McMurrough completed a famous double for the Jefferson yard in the two-and-a-half mile handicap chase with Harry Haynes in the saddle on this occasion.