Paggane strikes on chasing return at Carlisle

Faye Bramley is excited to see how far Paggane can go over fences this season following an impressive display in the pricedup.bet Houghton Mares’ Chase at Carlisle.

Formerly trained by Willie Mullins before changing hands for 100,000 guineas in June, the six-year-old subsequently moved to the Lambourn yard owned by perennial champion Sir AP McCoy.

Following a couple of spins on the Flat and a runner-up finish over hurdles at Chepstow, Paggane switched the larger obstacles in Cumbria and was a 13-8 favourite in the hands of Harry Cobden.

Telepathique, winner of four of her five previous starts over fences, was the chief market rival and made a real race of it, but Paggane was the strongest of the pair on the run-in and was nine and a half lengths in front at the line.

Bramley, who was saddling her first runner at Carlisle but rode her first winner at the track during her career in the saddle, said: “I’m absolutely over the moon with her. She’s our stable star, we all love her and I was so lucky to get her.

“Ronnie (Bartlett), Paul Shanahan and Justin Carthy bought her in an online sale and I was like a kid with a new toy. I gave her a couple of spins on the Flat and it didn’t really work out, but the plan was always to go chasing.

“We gave her a bit of a break and she put on a bit more weight than expected, so we ran her in Chepstow and were thinking she might be a gallop short but she ran really well and that set her up for this.”

On future plans, the trainer added: “There’s a Listed race at Market Rasen at the end of the month and then there’s another one next month at Doncaster. I did put her in the Hennessy (Coral Gold Cup), but we might just stick to the mares’ chases for now and see how we go.”

Ben Pauling expects The Jukebox Kid to go on to bigger and better things after making a successful start to his career over fences in the pricedup.bet Gordon Richards Novices’ Limited Handicap Chase.

The winner of a point-to-point last year and a novice hurdle in the spring, the six-year-old was beaten for the first time when third at Ayr in the spring and he was a 5-2 favourite to score on his fencing bow and seasonal reappearance under Ben Jones.

Always to the fore, The Jukebox Kid jumped well throughout and found plenty when challenged by Grand Geste to score by four lengths.

“That was a good start. He was good at Uttoxeter on his first run for us and then he just didn’t turn up at Ayr, but none of mine did really in April,” said Pauling.

“He hadn’t much experience to be doing that today after only a couple of runs over hurdles, but he’s a chaser who loves a bit of soft ground and hopefully he can become a nice, progressive novice.

“I’m not saying he’s going to be a Graded horse straight away, but jumping is the name of the game for him – that’s his bread and butter – and he looks like he’s going to be a lovely staying chaser.”

Pauling and Jones doubled up with 6-1 shot Sound And Fury in the PricedUp Cumberland Handicap Chase, while Dan and Harry Skelton landed the PricedUp Novices’ Hurdle with 5-2 favourite Tormund Giantsbane.

The Stephex Trucks UK Castletown Handicap Hurdle went to Hartington, a 7-1 shot trained by Joe Tizzard and ridden by Brendan Powell.