Victory for One Horse, A Victory for the Environment

On November 24th at Kempton racecourse, Jax Junior won the CopyBet "Chasing Excellence" Beginners' Chase race by a good stretch, beating out favourite Jeriko Du Reponet, who had predicted odds of 1/1, or "evens money". Meanwhile, the horse that would triumph had odds of 11/4.

A picture of Jax Junior

Jax Junior secured a decisive victory, proving the bookies wrong and winning handily by 12 lengths. He led early, but was headed after the third fence by Miami Magic and Du Reponet. However, a good jump at the fifth allowed him to regain the lead, and he would go on to increase this advantage, travelling well and going clear before the second-last fence, being out on the run-in for a comfortable win.

Jeriko Du Reponet took a keen hold and briefly led after the third but was headed by Jax at the fifth. He was not fluent at the fourth-last and, despite being ridden before the third-last, could make no impression on the Bay Gelding, ultimately finishing a distant second.

Meanwhile, for the other horses, Aurigny Mill fell while held up in touch at the fifth and would fail to recover, hampering Hansard and weakening him quickly before the third-last fence, letting Miami Magic gain a favourable third place.

Stats of the race from RacingPost

Speaking to the owner of Jax Junior, Cheryl Burton, she had this to say about the victory. 

“Well I think that he performed really well, obviously. He’s been training with the hurdles most days because that’s where we see him performing well”

“Some horses show their potential on different lengths or ground conditions of tracks like his sister, Jax Belle, but Junior looks better on these longer length courses where he can showcase his speed and jumping properly.”

Interestingly, these “ground conditions” found in horse racing are beginning to change, as the sport moves to a more environmentally sustainable approach to racing, and the maintenance and conditions of tracks are involved in this. Due to more extreme weather conditions threatening racecourses that rely on a certain amount of rain (or a lack thereof), lots of tracks are switching to less weather-reliant alternatives with artificial ground.

Current track at Uttoxeter Racecourse

Jax Junior has already made a name for himself as a good candidate to bet on, winning races previously at Cheltenham, Ascot and Doncaster since last year, with two second-place finishes at Uttoxeter and Huntingdon. Mrs Burton went on to comment; 

"So yeah, I'm really happy with this victory because it shows that his potential is still there. He's won some other races in the past, but needs to gain some experience in order to win those bigger races in the future".

You can see more detail, a video of the interview, and a behind-the-scenes look at Mrs Burton’s stable on my Instagram page here!

Written by Joseph Banks