Carruthers swept to victory in the Hennessy Gold Cup at Newbury on Saturday more than half a century after his breeder and part-owner Lord Oaksey claimed the famous staying handicap chase on Taxidermist.
Carruthers (10-1) jumped his rivals into the ground, leading virtually throughout under Mattie Batchelor to beat Planet Of Sound (14-1) by three quarters of a length,.
The fast finishing outsider Fair Along got up for third ahead of 5-1 favourite Great Endeavour.
“I can’t speak. I lost my mum two years ago today,” an emotional Batchelor told Channel 4.
“Carruthers a brilliant old horse. Last year he was wrong, this year he’s better than ever.
“I schooled him the other morning and he was in the form of his life. He doesn’t know when to give up. He came up for me at the last – he’s a great horse.”
Trainer Mark Bradstock said it was a career highlight.
“It’s my biggest win by a long way,” he said.
“You’ve obviously got the King George and the Gold Cup but the Hennessy is in the top six races you would want to win as a trainer.
“We bought the mare just as a bit of fun for John Oaksey’s retirement and this is her first progeny.
“We’re just a small yard but we’ve got good owners and horses like this are a reason to get out of bed in the morning.”
Oaksey, whose father was a noted jurist who officiated at the Nuremberg trials, was an accomplished amateur jockey in his day and rode the late Fulke Walwyn’s Taxidermist to victory in the 1958 Hennessy.
Earlier on Saturday’s card Britain’s leading staying hurdler Big Buck’s clocked up win number 13 in the Long Distance Hurdle.
AFP AAP TURF
