PRINCE among MEN
Wayward Prince is crowned new Scottish National king at Ayr
WAYWARD PRINCE was the subject of a fairly muted welcome as the 25/1 chance took the Coral Scottish Grand National in front of a 16,500 crowd at sun-kissed Ayr.
Backed in from 40/1 yesterday morning, he represented five-horse Cotswolds trainer Hilary Parrott and Irish jockey Robbie Dunne in the £210,000 marathon.
Mrs Parrott is based at Redmarley, near Gloucester, and is only the third female trainer to secure Scotland’s richest jumps prize following the exploits of Jenny Pitman and Lavinia Taylor.
Eleven-year-old Wayward Prince was the stable’s first runner at the track and the winning handler said: ‘I came up here once before with friends but the racing was abandoned. This is an unbelievable experience and is really amazing.
‘I’m a farmers daughter and I’ve always been involved with horses through the Pony Club, hunting and point-to-pointing. We’ve only got a small stable with four or five horses so I want to retire, not expand these days!’
Mrs Parrott, who had a spell out of training between the 1995-96 and 2010-11 seasons, added: ‘It went like a dream out there today although the run in seemed like 10 miles!
‘He’s looked after like a baby at home and we all love him to bits — he’d lost his form with Ian Williams, so I thought I’d bring him home and give training a go myself, rather than retire him.
‘He goes out every day, is very happy and, in a small yard, you can give them more attention. Walking round the paddock, I thought he looked magnificent and pretty full of himself.
‘During the race, I could see him going ever so well and I just wanted him to stay on over those final two fences as he’d never tackled four miles before.
‘Laurie Ann York deserves a lot of credit for this as she’s my head girl and I couldn’t have done it without her. She does all the work on Wayward Prince and I can’t thank her enough.’
After-race celebrations for Dunne were set to be l ow-key as he admitted afterwards he has had issues with alcohol in the past.
‘It’s soft drinks only for me from now, even after this,’ said the Irishman, who has been over in the UK for around four seasons.
‘I had a dream ride the whole way, but when they came to me at the last I thought I was done but he just dug deeper and deeper and answered my every call.
‘Sam Drinkwater couldn’t do the weight when this horse won at Doncaster in February, so I schooled him and ended up getting the ride. My relationship with the yard has gone from there and it’s crucial you get the start right — Mrs Parrott didn’t give me instructions, she just said: “You know the horse, get on with it”.
‘You have to get away from the start and into a nice rhythm and maintain that position. He idled a bit but it’s a long old way and he’d been in front a while.
‘I went freelance 18 months ago and this type of result does me the world of good. I’m starting to get into different yards now and winning is the easy part — it’s getting the rides in the first place that’s difficult.’
The result means that the wait goes on for a winning favourite, as this years 9/1 market leader Broadway Buffalo was only sixth, two places ahead of the best local effort of Harry The Viking.
For a third time, Philip Hobbs took the QTS Scottish Champion Hurdle, this time with Richard Johnson-ridden Cheltenian.
The Minehead trainer said: ‘I didn’t realise that it’s worth £100,000 now, so it’s a nice prize to win. We’re not sure where to go next as he’s in at Sandown and Punchestown and he CROWNING GLORY: Wayward Prince wins ahead of Goonyella, as Dunne celebrates with the trophy (inset) could possibly go to chasing next season.’
AP McCoy failed to get his dream Ayr send-off as the retiring jockey was out of luck on all three rides.
FRANKIE DETTORI made it six winners in four days, as well as three flying dismounts, with a 441/1 treble at Newbury yesterday centred around a neck success on Charlie Hills-trained Greenham Stakes 16/1 winner Muhaarar.
Dettori said: ‘I don’t think I have had three flying dismounts before so early. I have had a fantastic week.’