Kikijo gives Richard Johnson another Cheltenham landmark

Kikijo carried the colours of the Richard Johnson Racing Club to victory at Cheltenham in the From The Horses Mouth Podcast Handicap Hurdle.

Four-time champion jockey Johnson finished runner-up to Sir Anthony McCoy on an incredible 16 occasions and retired as the second most successful jump jockey of all time behind his former weighing-room colleague.

He has now turned his hand to running ownership syndicates with a good degree of success and this was his first Cheltenham winner.

It seems apt that Kikijo (11-2) is trained by Philip Hobbs and Johnson White, for whom Johnson had so much success at their Somerset yard.

Ridden by Sean Houlihan, he was to the fore throughout and while his rivals were busy looking for the best ground, Kikijo just went about his merry way.

Turning in he was there to be shot at as Prince Zaltar and Gowel Road closed in, but once Houlihan grabbed the rail and jumped the last, he found a second wind to win by two and three-quarter lengths.

“It’s much more nerve-wracking watching, I’m not a good spectator!,” said Johnson.

“He travelled and jumped great and Sean gave him a lovely ride.

“It’s lovely to have horses with Philip and Johnson as they were so good to me and it’s amazing to have a winner here in my family colours.

“We’ve got great owners involved and hopefully there’s more to look forward to.

“I actually sold him as a chaser but the way the races have worked out he’s been hurdling so we’ll see how the next few weeks unfold.”

He added: “Philip and Johnson have had a real resurgence this year, they’ve got a lovely bunch of horses and hopefully they’ll have lots more to come.”

White said of the winner: “He’s such a versatile horse and he’s been bought to go chasing and he will go chasing, but if there is a suitable hurdle race like today then we can mix and match.

“I don’t like to pigeon hole horses, so we’ll see what is available and go from there.

“He won over fences at Newbury last year and jumped well and I will have no problem going back over fences but there might be something else which suits him better.

“Sean gave him a lovely ride and I couldn’t be more chuffed. A Pertemps qualifier is looking more of an option now, so I’ll have a look in the programme book. I thought I would be searching for a three-and-a-half-mile handicap chase but it looks like I might revise that now.”

He went on: “The horses are healthy and well and more importantly we’ve got a better quality of horse again, so there’s lots to look forward to and we can enjoy more big days like today.”