Gifford left clutching at straws as Jazz Messenger delivers - Sport - Times Online

The impenetrably grey skies of Kempton yesterday were appropriate to the mood of Nick Gifford. Unlike Kauto Star, Gifford s Straw Bear failed to justify his odds-on price in the grade one Stan James Christmas Hurdle and was so thoroughly beaten in fourth place that the dream of a Champion Hurdle suddenly looks hopelessly fanciful. Gifford, busy rebuilding the fortunes of the Findon yard made famous by his father, was unable to offer any explanations for a tame showing by his stable flagbearer.

He hasn t run his race and I ve no idea why, he said. We ll get him checked out to see if anything is wrong.

Though he had not travelled as fluently as when winning the Fighting Fifth Hurdle last month, Straw Bear still looked the likely winner as he closed down on Jazz Messenger leaving the back straight.

I thought we d win at that stage but by the next hurdle he was dead, Tony McCoy, his jockey, said. Stan James, the meeting sponsor, reacted dramatically, pushing Straw Bear out from 7-1 to 16-1 for Cheltenham s first-day feature. Detroit City, unlikely to be seen again until Sandown in February, is generally 5-2 favourite.

With front-running Afsoun falling four from home, Noble Request was left to chase home Jazz Messenger, a 10-1 winner for Noel Meade and another chapter of an extraordinary 2006 for Niall Slippers Madden, the Grand National-winning jockey. This was my first ride at Kempton and I really don t want this year to end, Madden said. Jazz Messenger s Champion Hurdle odds now range between 10-1 and 20-1 but he is the third-string for the mighty Meade yard, behind Iktitaf and Harchibald.

Noble Request is likely to run in the Tote Gold Trophy in February but the Champion market will take more dependable shape after Brave Inca, last season s winner, meets Iktitaf at Leopardstown on Friday. There was another upset in the Stan James Feltham Novices Chase, won by the outsider of the six-strong field. Nor did there appear to be any fluke about the performance of the 14-1 shot Ungaro, trained in Cleveland by Keith Reveley for Sir Robert Ogden.

Barry Simpson, Ogden s racing manager, seemed unsurprised by the result but cautioned against enthusiasm for the Royal SunAlliance Chase in March. He s not overbig, so I don t know if Cheltenham will suit him, he said. Boychuk, who ran Knowhere out of second place on the run-in, will definitely be aimed at the Festival and his trainer, Philip Hobbs, said: This ground was still a bit sticky for him and he ll be a better horse when it dries out.

Kicks For Free, ante-post favourite for the Supreme Novices Hurdle, broke a blood vessel in finishing only third in the opening race and will now be given a break by his trainer, Paul Nicholls. The race went to De Soto, who is providing welcome succour for the Banbury yard of Paul Webber. Everything went wrong last year, Webber said, but this is a tough, hardened horse now.