Cheltenham Results: Simonsig scores in the Arkle Chase

Simonsig, trained by Nicky Henderson and ridden by Barry Geraghty, won the Arkle Challenge Trophy Chase at the Cheltenham Festival...

Unbeaten in two previous starts over fences, Nicky Henderson's dashing grey was the market leader and travelled powerfully throughout in the hands of Barry Geraghty.

Despite making a jumping error heading down the back straight, the seven-year-old was still cruising heading down the hill and was left in front after Overturn blundered his way over the third-last.

There was still time for a scare for odds-on backers, though, as outsider Baily Green tracked him into the straight.

But Simonsig found enough after the final fence to seal a two-and-a-quarter-length triumph.

Geraghty said: "He rallied really well, in fairness to him."

Simonsig was already a previous Festival winner, having claimed the Neptune Investment Management Novices' Hurdle 12 months ago, but had not run over fences in public since December.

Overturn, a winner of numerous big races on the Flat and over hurdles, had won each of his first three starts over fences.

And while he went with his usual enthusiasm for a long way, Simonsig appeared to have his measure when a bad mistake stopped him in his tracks.

The most disappointing horse in the race was Willie Mullins' Arvika Ligeonniere, who travelled and jumped soundly for the first half of the contest before stopping very quickly at the top of the hill.

Geraghty said: "It was harder work than I thought. The ground is dead, and maybe that didn't help.

"He missed one down the back and that was unlike him.

"He was very good at the second-last and tight at the last.

"It didn't set the headlines as we thought he might, but he was very good."

Get Timeform data for Cheltenham for just £2.50 a day with Timeform Race Passes. It's like a Form Book, Black Book & Race Card all in one! Find Out More!

There are no comments on this article.

Product Review Center

The 5 lowest winning US Masters scores

US Masters / Dan Fitch / 03 March 2011 / Leave a Comment

The only man to make it onto this list twice.

Dan Fitch looks at the lowest winning scores ever hit at the U.S. Masters.

The phrase 'under par' means to perform below average, except in the context of golf, where to finish under par is the entire point of the sport.

When it come to the Masters Tournament, there are a group of men who have excelled at the art of finishing under par. Here are the five lowest winning scores at the Masters.

Tiger Woods score of 16 under par not only saw him win the Masters, but also complete the Grand Slam, having won the US Open, British Open and PGA Championship in 2000.

Woods scored an unremarkable -2 on the first day, before moving into joint second place on the second day of the tournament by scoring a six-under 66 to put him -8. Tiger took the lead on the Saturday with a four-under 68 and repeated the feat on the final day, to finish -16, ahead of the -14 David Duval.

In last year's Masters, Phil Mickelson won the title for the third occasion with his best ever score of -16.

Mickelson got off to a flying start with a five-under score of 67 to put him in joint second place. He then scored a one-under 71 on the second day, before bouncing back with another 67 on the Saturday to leave himself -11 and one shot off the leader Lee Westwood. On the concluding day, Mickelson hit a third 67 to leave himself -16, three strokes ahead of Westwood.

Jack Nicklaus won his second US Masters title by setting a then record score of -17. The winning margin of nine strokes over the tied Arnold Palmer and Gary Player was also a record, that stood until it was beaten by Tiger Woods in 1997.

Nicklaus started quickly with a score of -5 on the first day and scored a one-under par 71 on day two. On the Saturday Nicklaus hit a brilliant -8 and added a round of -3 on the concluding Sunday, to give himself an unprecedented winning score.

The victory in 1965 was the second of a total of six that the Golden Bear won between 1963 and 1986.

Nicklaus' record lasted for eleven years, until Raymond Floyd equalled it in 1976. Floyd hit the ground running, with a score of -7 on the first day and -6 on the second, to leave him -13.

The looming shadow of Nicklaus was not far behind though, trailing by five shots on -8. Floyd kept his cool over the weekend to extend his lead with two -2 scores of 70, while Nicklaus faded away. The master-chipper eventually won the title by eight strokes over the second-placed Ben Crenshaw.

Here's Floyd hitting a hole-in-one at the Masters some 19 years later.

The joint-record held by Nicklaus and Floyd was beaten in 1997 by the then 21-year old Tiger Woods. His score of -18 also saw him break Nicklaus' record for the biggest margin of victory, with Woods finishing twelve strokes ahead of the second-placed Tom Kite.

Woods' achievement was all the more remarkable considering the poor start he made. He was +4 after the first nine holes, but fought back to finish the first 18 at -2. A six-under 66 gave Woods the lead on -8 on the second day, before a 65 on the Saturday brought him to -15.

The final day saw Woods go round in 69 to finish -18. The Masters was his first major championship and his winning margin of 12 strokes was a record for any major tournament, until he broke his own record by winning the 2000 U.S. Open by a 15-shot margin.

Dan Fitch looks at the lowest winning scores ever hit at the U.S. Masters....

On current form Tiger Woods would be a [50.0] shot for the Masters but memories of past Masters ensure he holds up as the [5.8] favourite - and that's crazy, argues Paul Krishnamurty...

The golf season enjoys a very mini break over the next fortnight so Steve focuses minds for the year to come with a quintet of bets that will be placed in 2011...

Play Casino & Poker here

Betfair Ascot Chase Result: Riverside Theatre scores in style

Timeform Features / Jamie Lynch / 19 February 2011 / Leave a Comment

Riverside Theatre clears the last to win the Betfair Ascot Chase

"Riverside Theatre is now [9.0] for the Ryanair Chase at Cheltenham."

Nicky Henderson's King George runner-up Riverside Theatre went one better in impressive fashion in the Grade 1 Betfair Ascot Chase on Saturday...

A small-but-select field lined up for the Betfair Ascot Chase, which was the first real test for the King George form with Riverside Theatre arriving on the back of his excellent second to stable-companion Long Run at Kempton, but unfortunately much of the interest in the race was taken away when second-favourite Pride of Dulcote came down at the eighth and suffered a fatal injury.

That made the task all the easier for the classy Riverside Theatre, who duly stretched clear in the home straight, with ten lengths to spare over Gauvain at the line, and a further eleven lengths back to Deep Purple in third.

Riverside Theatre underlined his improvement from Kempton, even if he didn't have to reproduce it all to beat what he had to at Ascot, and he's now [9.0] for the Ryanair Chase at Cheltenham, for which Paul Nicholls' Poquelin remains favourite.

Nicky Henderson's King George runner-up Riverside Theatre went one better in impressive fashion in the Grade 1 Betfair Ascot Chase on Saturday......

Timeform look ahead to next week's racing, which starts with a strong card at Naas on Sunday and culminates with Racing Post Chase day at Kempton......

The National Hunt season has had more than a stop-start feel to it thus far, with all the abandonments of December rolling into January and then the unfortunate events at Newbury last weekend. Here's hoping that the rearranged meeting at the Berkshire track on Friday and Ascot's big card on Saturday signal the return of the show to the road....

Play Casino & Poker here