Sean Bowen looks real McCoy at Cheltenham in emulating legend’s never-say-die ride

On an afternoon for the National Hunt diehards here on Friday, as Storm Claudia battered racegoers and runners alike, one rider’s refusal to be cowed by either the elements or circumstance was a beacon in the gloom.

There were distinct echoes of Tony McCoy’s famous never-say-die ride on Wichita Lineman as Sean Bowen niggled, coaxed and cajoled the novice chaser Wade Out around two circuits of Cheltenham, and it was only in the final moments of a race that took nearly seven minutes to run that Bowen’s mount appeared to have any realistic chance of winning.

Wade Out was last of the four remaining runners heading out onto the final circuit, and from there he scarcely jumped a single fence with any fluency or speed. Several times, he appeared to be dropping away, only for Bowen to roust him back onto the coattails of his three rivals.

His final flat spot came on the run down the hill, and this time, it seemed that it was surely all over for Wade Out, as One Big Bang and Isaac Des Obeaux were clearly going much better as they eased clear.

But as the final fence loomed and the leaders started to tire, Bowen and Wade Out appeared from the gloom to challenge on the inside, and despite another untidy jump, an indefatigable jockey and his equally determined mount were three lengths clear at the line.

Sean Bowen aboard Wade Out after a remarkable victory at Cheltenham. Photograph: Mike Egerton/PA

“He was lazy, he didn’t jump because he was lazy and probably the ground didn’t help him,” Bowen said. “He did a lot wrong and still managed to win. I was on nothing two out and at the last, and I was a bit annoyed there was nothing there, but then he got to the front and had a look around again. So he’s a good horse, you just have to try and get the best out of him.”

If Bowen and Wade Out supplied the grit on Friday’s card, it was L’Eau du Sud, in the Grade Two Shloer Chase, that provided the quality. Dan Skelton’s chaser, a close fourth in last year’s Arkle Trophy after jumping the last in front, came home on a tight rein and 15 lengths in front of Jonbon, the winner of the race for the past two years.

L’Eau du Sud and Harry Skelton on their way to winning the Shloer Chase. Photograph: David Davies for The Jockey Club/PA

“We had him prepared for today and we’re super-happy with what we’ve seen,” Skelton said, “It means we’re going to head down that Grade One route and what a joy to be able to look forward to it.

“We’ll go to the Tingle Creek [at Sandown in December] and then map it out. The mistake I made last year, I didn’t want to say it at the time but I kind of knew in my heart going away from Warwick [on 8 February], that we shouldn’t have run him there and gone straight to the Arkle [in March]. But it got him more experience, and we’ll look forward not back.”

JJ Slevin pulls off a remarkable recovery on board Matata before finishing third behind L’Eau du Sud and Jonbon. Photograph: Mike Egerton/PA

Saturday’s card at Cheltenham, featuring the Paddy Power Gold Cup, will be subject to a precautionary inspection at 7.30am after Friday’s stormy conditions. “We’ve still got further rain to come,” Jon Pullin, the clerk of the course, said on Friday. “Having opened it up, it makes sense to have a look in the morning.

“The forecast is saying it should be drying up from 1am and we do know that once this track gets a bit of a window without any rain, it does start to drain and hopefully that will be the case.”

Bank on Nolan to lift Cup with Conyers Hill

Just 6lb separates the entire field according to Timeform’s ratings for the Paddy Power Gold Cup at Cheltenham on Saturday, and Friday’s heavy rain will ensure that the first big handicap chase of the new jumps season will be a test for horses and punters alike.

Paul Nicholls’s Il Ridoto has been a fixture in the track’s two-and-a-half mile handicap chases for the past three seasons and has form figures of 4-3-1 in the last three running’s of Saturday’s feature. He beat several fellow Cheltenham regulars 12 months ago, however, and faces a different challenge this time around from an assortment of promising second-season chasers.

Thecompanysergeant, second in the valuable Plate Handicap Chase on the New course here at the festival in March, is a leading player on that form, but must now carry a big weight in demanding ground, while Sam Thomas’s Vicenzo, another with an obvious chance on his progressive chase form, is unproven at the trip on testing going.

With more rain forecast, it could pay to look towards the bottom of the weights and Paul Nolan’s Conyers Hill (2.20), sixth in the Grand Annual over two miles at the festival in March, is an interesting each-way option at around 16-1.

He is just seven races into his chase career, acts on heavy ground and his handy racing weight of 11st 1lb could make all the difference at the business end of a gruelling contest.

Cheltenham 1.45: Dan Skelton has shown his knack for turning 130+-rated handicap hurdlers into even better chasers twice in the last four runnings of this race, with L’Eau du Sud and Third Time Lucki, and last year’s Greatwood Handicap Hurdle runner-up, Be Aware, arrives with a very similar profile.

Cheltenham 2.55: The time of the handicap hurdle over track and trip at the October meeting suggests that it is the strongest form on offer. and though third-home Supremely West is a logical favourite at around 7-4, Long Draw was less than three lengths further back, equally likely to come on for his seasonal debut and better than twice the price at around 6-1.

Wetherby 3.10: Cueros was an emphatic 14-length winner first time up over hurdles and is marginally preferred to another useful prospect in Fresh Perspective.

Cheltenham 3.30: Having switched stables from Paul Nicholls to Olly Murphy over the summer, Kap Boy was a convincing winner on his first start his new yard at Perth last time and goes well on testing ground.

Wetherby 3.43: Cerendipity made a solid return to action behind the promising Be Aware last month and can race off the same mark here.