Blaklion stayed on commendably up the hill to take the honours in the RSA Chase at Cheltenham.
Produced by Ryan Hatch in a wide-open race, the Nigel Twiston-Davies-trained Blaklion (8-1) put in a tenacious effort to come out on top.
BLAKLION wins The RSA with an impressive performance up the hill! #CheltenhamFestival https://t.co/DELDAyvNKU
— Channel 4 Racing (@Channel4Racing) March 16, 2016
The winner and Shaneshill battled it out in the closing stages, with the former prevailing by half a length.
More Of That was third, another eight lengths in arrears.
Hatch, claiming a second Festival victory, said: “He’s not very big, but he can jump.
“He was absolutely super – he travelled all the way.
“He had a bit of boot at the end and passed them all.
“He’s such a legend, he’s as hard as nails.
“He’s a very good horse and I just steered him, really.”
Twiston-Davies said: “It’s fantastic. Nobody expected him to win, but he’s always been a great horse.
“We were so gutted (on Tuesday) and I was miserable as The New One (fourth in Champion Hurdle) isn’t quite as good as he used to be, but we’ve got another (good) one.”
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