The Lilliputian chaser on odds of 7/1 was fast from the off and left the other eleven competitors behind him. The only real competitor emerged to be Cepage (12/1) as Baron Alco (5 – 1) fell out of contention, with Frodon’s jumping being the difference between the two. Two excellent laps in the straight sealed the £130,000 contest with Cepage coming in second. Last year’s winner Guitar Pete boxed on for a third-place finish.
Jockey Bryony Frost praised his horse’s ability to jump across the fences saying he does so with so much ease it is like he has some imaginary wings, even calling him Pegasus. Frost said he always had full confidence in the horse whom he said showed bravery and his belief in the horse grew with each stride.
Frodon becomes the second dual winner of the race since Poquelin secured consecutive successes for Nicholls in the 2009 and 2010 editions of the event. He has definitely been improving as he has aged and his 10-time champion trainer praised the pace that Frodon showed. He said his performance was beyond expectations and when he found pace after the first mile he didn’t slow down.
At just six years old, they are now looking forward to training for the Ryanair Chase with his trainer considering to give him a break, a vacation to celebrate the heroic win he joked. Keeping the horse fresh for the Cheltenham Festival might be a good option but no-one would be surprised if Frodon was to compete in the Ascot Chase in February. The seventeen fence 2 miles and 5 furlongs track could provide a perfect warm-up option.
But no doubt the Grade 1 Ryanair Chase will be the one they are looking forward to. A fairly recent addition to the National Hunt chase season, it was introduced in 2005 when the Cheltenham Festival expanded to four days. The prize money is a healthy £156,612.50 so competition is bound to be fierce. The bookmakers think Frodon is in with a shot after the Caspian Caviar Gold victory, odds of him winning the Ryanair Chase have been slashed from 20/1 to 14/1.
