Blood Destiny came back in trip to some effect to claim the Flyingbolt Novice Chase at Navan.

Beaten by Spillane’s Tower in January when taking a keen hold in front, he moved nicely this time in second for Paul Townend, going strongly after three out before leading two from home and winging the last on the way to an impressive victory, with his Punchestown conqueror six and a half lengths in arrears on this occasion.

“New tactics, I thought that might be a help after Punchestown,” Willie Mullins said of his 8-11 favourite.

“Paul was very taken with him there. He’s brilliant to jump, that was always his feature, but we were making too much use of his jumping instead of just using it when we needed it.

“Coming back in trip might have been a help as well.”

Despite being trimmed for his Cheltenham Festival entries (Arkle and Turners Novices’ Chase), Mullins has other plans.

He added: “I don’t know whether we’ve made a mistake now leaving him at home for Cheltenham but at least he has one nice prize in the bag.

“I’d imagine he’ll probably go for the WillowWarm Gold Cup at Fairyhouse. That was the plan, here and then on to that.

“I know it’s two and a half, but that two and a half will be all right for him as well.”

Ash Tree Meadow was a 7-2 winner of the BoyleSports Webster Cup for Gordon Elliott and Sam Ewing.

Turning out just six days after finishing fourth in the Newlands Chase at Naas behind the brilliant but injury-plagued Ferny Hollow, the eight-year-old made every yard of the running on his way to a three-and-a-quarter length victory over Lucid Dreams.

The long-absent 4-6 favourite Journey With Me was a further half a length away in third place.

“It wasn’t really the plan to run him but when the race looked like it would cut up we decided we’d declare him and then make our mind up what to do. It worked out great,” Elliott said.

“He’s a good horse, Sam said he hated that ground and he’ll be better on better ground.

“There is a race in Fairyhouse and a race in Aintree for him. ”

Elliott and Ewing were completing a double on the card following the earlier victory of 4-6 favourite Instant Tendance in the BoyleSports Money Back 2nd To The Favourite Mares Maiden Hurdle.

“We had four or five seconds last weekend but no winner. I’d be anxious myself, we haven’t much between now and Cheltenham but it’s happy days (today),” Elliott added.

Nicky Henderson was back among the winners on Saturday to give him something to smile about as he awaits the Cheltenham Festival fate of Constitution Hill.

The champion hurdler scoped badly in the immediate aftermath of his disappointing Kempton workout on Tuesday, while blood test results received on Thursday gave connections even more cause for concern.

A further scope conducted on Friday appeared more encouraging, but Henderson revealed a second blood test to be taken on Monday would be the “acid test”.

He said: “The blood test on Monday will tell us everything and we will know where we are after that.

“If we don’t get the results we want on Monday I wouldn’t go as far as to say it will be the end of the season. Let’s just cross each bridge when we come across it.

“When you train horses you are going to walk into these situations and you’ve got to face up to it.

“It had all been too easy. Everybody thinks it is ‘ABC’ and it has been with him, except he can’t tell you when he’s wrong because he so laid-back about life.

“He’s the slowest walker, the slowest trotter and you have to drag him out of bed on a morning. With most horses you can tell, but with him you can’t as he can’t talk to you, most horses can.”

Spring Note won at Newbury for the Seven Barrows handler, while the Grade One-winning Jango Baie finished second in front of Henderson at Kelso, after which he said: “That’s the second time he’s had to run in a really good race with a 5lb penalty, it stops them. But if you win a Grade One you can’t have your cake and eat it.

“He’s a good horse. He wants to go up in trip, there’s no doubt about that, two-mile-two is tight for him. You could go two and a half but he won over two miles at Aintree, mainly because he stays.

“Over fences he’ll be going three, I’d imagine, and he’ll be very good. This time next year hopefully we’ll be talking about Cheltenham with him.

“Of course it’s nice to see one run well, I’m conscious of what’s happening, but it’s not a lot of pleasure, I can tell you that.

“To be fair the ground in our neck of the woods is so bad, and our horses always want better ground.”

Does He Know put up a tremendous weight-carrying performance to provide trainer Kim Bailey with a third victory in the Grimthorpe Chase at Doncaster.

Although a four-time winner over fences, including Grade Two and Grade Three triumphs at Ascot and Cheltenham respectively, Does He Know was a 20-1 shot for his latest assignment having failed to trouble the judge in three previous starts this season.

The nine-year-old also had the burden of 12st on his back and had to concede upwards of 11lb to each of his nine rivals, but bounced back to his best under a buccaneering ride from David Bass.

The three-mile-two-furlong contest was not for the faint hearted, with eight of the 10 runners failing to complete the course.

Some Scope, the 3-1 favourite to complete his hat-trick following recent wins at Catterick and at this track, looked to have been delivered with a perfectly-timed challenge halfway up the home straight by Gavin Sheehan, but try as he might he was unable to reel in Does He Know, who stuck to his guns to claim top honours by just over three lengths.

Bailey, who has previously won the Grimthorpe with Shraden Leader in 1994 and The Last Samuri in 2016, said: “We very much hoped he would do that. He was the best horse in the race, the rain definitely helped us and we were very hopeful he would run a smashing race.

“He’s got some very good form. He’s a very hard horse to place and we’ve run him in two races this season we knew he had no chance in but there weren’t any alternatives.

“It has always been the plan to run in this race and it was unbelievably good performance with 12st on his back in that ground, it was extraordinary.

“I’m really pleased for the owners and everybody involved because we’ve had a shocking old winter really. The horses haven’t been wrong, but we’ve got very few horses that go in this ground.”

Does He Know holds an entry in the Midlands Grand National at Uttoxeter in a fortnight’s time, but will not take up that engagement.

“He won’t go there, definitely not. He doesn’t have to run again this season, but if he does it will either be the Whitbread (bet365 Gold Cup) or the Scottish National, I would think,” Bailey added.

“He’s had a hard race today, so he’ll want a bit of time to get over that.”

Pinot Rouge (20-1) provided Northumberland-based trainer Susan Corbett with the most notable success of her training career so far in the Tips For Every Race At raceday-ready.com Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle, narrowly outpointing Irish raider Ottizzini by half a length under Edward Austin.

Corbett said: “I hoped we’d be in the first half of the field because although she’s not got a lot of speed, she grinds away and loves the soft ground.

“On her first run for us she was flying home when she was third and while she’s doesn’t show that at home, the boys that ride her say when you ask her she gives a little bit more.

“If we’d been third today I would have been delighted, so to finish first I’m somewhere on the ceiling I think! We’ve never won a Listed race before or anything near it, so the whole team at home are thrilled to bits.

“She’ll probably have a little break and if the ground is still like it is now in say four weeks she’ll run again, if not we’ll put away because I think novice chasing will be her game next season.”

Homme Public was a 3-1 winner of the Free Digital Racecard At raceday-ready.com Handicap Chase for the formidable training partnership of Oliver Greenall and Josh Guerriero, while Curley Finger (2-1 favourite) denied stablemate Floueur by a diminishing nose when leading home a one-two for trainer Rebecca Menzies in the Download The Raceday Ready App Handicap Hurdle.

Ferny Hollow has met with a new injury setback and is once again on the sidelines.

Trained by Willie Mullins and winner of the Champion Bumper back in 2020, the hugely-talented nine-year-old returned from a 791-day absence to take the Newlands Chase at Naas last month, on just his fourth start since that Cheltenham Festival victory.

Speaking at Navan on Saturday, Mullins said: “He picked up another injury and he’s going to miss Aintree and Punchestown, I think.

“You might see him in the Galway Plate or something, I’ll have to find somewhere to run him.

“I think he’s going to be out for six to eight weeks. It’s a completely new injury.

“He’s just one of those individuals that gives his all and hurts himself when he does.

“It’s unfortunate but I think we’ll have him back for the summer, we could maybe head to France with him or something like that.”

Thunder Rock provided Sean Bowen with his biggest success since returning from injury in the Listed bet365 Premier Chase at Kelso.

Bowen – who has seen his lead at the top of the jockeys’ championship eroded and then passed by Harry Cobden – has struggled for winners since his return to action but victory on one of Olly Murphy’s stable stars will have done him the world of good.

Given a patient ride, Thunder Rock grew in confidence as the race progressed, as Minella Drama, Aye Right and Elvis Mail tried to stretch things.

Grand National fancy Monbeg Genius struggled to get on terms and when Thunder Rock went cruising on by as they turned into the straight, it was clear he had no more to give.

Thunder Rock found plenty in the home straight and the heavily-backed 9-4 favourite came home seven lengths clear of Minella Drama, booking himself a ticket to Aintree and a step back up in class.

Bowen said: “He proved he stays three miles. They went quick and every time I gave him a squeeze he picked up.

“I was confident where I was and Olly gave me a lot of confidence going out to ride him. I’d been riding a lot more seconds than winners since I came back and I was getting a bit frustrated. It always helps having a good boss like that.”

Murphy said: “I really enjoyed that. I went to Cheltenham in December when I felt like I’d set him up for a big handicap but he may as well have pulled up and it’s been an upward curve since then.

“He ran well the last day at Musselburgh on the wrong track when he was wheel-spinning for two and a half miles but it did his confidence good.

“I said to Sean not to get in a battle with him and ride him with confidence because he was the classiest horse in the race and to make that tell and he did just that.

“It’s been hard for Sean, he’s riding through pain and we’ve had a quiet couple of weeks ourselves so this will do him the world of good.”

He added: “I think we’ll go to Aintree with him for the Bowl now, it’s a Grade One so he’ll need to step up again but a small field suits him and he’ll be back over 150 in a handicap again.”

Just a week on from seeing an £80,000 prize snatched from his grasp in the Eider Chase, Ewan Whillans was celebrating winning the £120,000 bet365 Morebattle Hurdle at Kelso with Cracking Rhapsody.

When Prince Des Fichaux was reeled in by Anglers Crag after the last at Newcastle, Whillans could have been forgiving for thinking his best chance of winning a major handicap had slipped through his fingers.

However, in Cracking Rhapsody he had an unexposed novice on his hands with course form up his sleeve and the 9-1 chance turned what looked a competitive race into something of a procession.

With Nicky Henderson’s morning favourite Under Control a non-runner, it opened the race up and it was 7-2 the field.

But Cracking Rhapsody pulled away with Ginger Mail, another trained locally, early in the straight and by the time he jumped the last the race was won, pulling four and a half lengths clear.

Whillans said: “That was unbelievable and I’m over the moon. Even though he’s still a novice he’s always been a good jumper.

“I thought they’d have gone really quick, but Craig (Nichol) had him in a lovely position and he travelled really well.

“Having been second in the Eider last week I thought that was our chance for a big race gone. We don’t have many good horses and it’s usually a case of getting in good races.

“Since last week there’s been a buzz about the yard, we’ve got about 25 horses in being ridden, we’re down a bit, but those we’ve got seem quite capable.

“There’s a novice handicap final at Sandown on the last day of the season worth £100,000 and if the ground is decent I’d say we’ll go there. He might stay over hurdles next year.”

Personal Ambition is likely to head for Aintree’s Grand National meeting after coming out on top in thrilling renewal of the bet365 Premier Novices’ Hurdle at Kelso.

Never far from the pace set by Choose A Copper, Ben Pauling’s charge – whose only defeat in three prior hurdle starts was when third in this Grade Two company at Sandown – soon had them all at it when Kielan Woods went for home.

To his credit, 9-4 market leader Jango Baie stuck to his task when giving chase, as at one stage it looked as if Nicky Henderson’s Boxing Day Grade One scorer might drop away.

Nico de Boinville’s mount had closed right up jumping the last, but try as he might he could not quite reel the leader in under his 5lb penalty, going down by half a length to the 3-1 winner.

Pauling said: “It didn’t exactly go to plan early doors, there was a good gallop down to the first, probably too much of a gallop I would say, and he missed the first and the second and I was thinking ‘this is not ideal’.

“Thankfully he got into a nice rhythm after that and it was great that he toughed it out, as he needed to today. It wasn’t a facile victory, he had to really dig deep and he hasn’t had to do that before really, so it was great to see him do it.

“He’ll probably go to Aintree, that would be the obvious route. We were never going to go to Cheltenham because I knew that he could make the sort of mistakes he did today.

“I still think he’s a horse that just needs time on the track and I think the flat track at Aintree will suit him more than the undulations of Cheltenham.

“He’s obviously got loads of ability and he’ll be a lovely horse in time.”

Woods only returned this week after serving a 45-day suspension related to his use of the whip.

He said: “This is massive. It’s not easy for Ben Pauling to convince owners to put me up after what I’ve been doing, but I’ve learned my lesson and it’s great that Angus and Lynne (Maclennan), who are big owners, have put me up. It means a lot.

“That was brilliant. He stuck at it really well, he was good and tough. He’s very talented, but he’ll be a nicer chaser, he doesn’t have much respect for hurdles. He’ll be a good horse when he gets fences.”

Serious Operator provided Patrick Wadge with another valuable winner in his quest to be champion conditional jockey when seeing off Brewin’upastorm in the bet365 Handicap Hurdle at Kelso.

Trained by Lucinda Russell, Wadge’s main supplier of winners, the seven-year-old had finished fifth in the Lanzarote Hurdle at Kempton last time out and was a well-backed 7-2 chance.

With Wadge, who still claims 3lb, full of confidence looking for a sixth winner in his last seven rides, he waited for the right time to kick for home and jumped the last with an advantage he held to the line, winning by a length and three-quarters.

“He’s improving, his jumping was perfect but we were a bit worried about the ground because he prefers it good to soft than soft,” said Russell.

“Halfway down the back I was thinking the ground was catching him out, but it wasn’t and he was entitled to go close based on his Lanzarote run.

“We’ll go chasing next year, he probably should have done it this year, but to be fair his hurdling is outstanding. He’ll go to Aintree now and he’ll stay around at two and a half miles, it suits him.”

On Wadge, she added: “I’m so proud of him and he’s riding with such confidence, it’s great.

“The title would be great, but it’s a fickle old world and there are two months still to go. He’s certainly riding at the top of his game.”

Cinderella’s Dream enhanced her Classic claims in overcoming huge adversity to land the Jumeirah 1000 Guineas at Meydan.

Following low-key wins at Lingfield and Thirsk, the daughter of Shamardal made an impressive Dubai debut in last month’s Jumeirah Fillies Classic – a race won last year by Saeed bin Suroor’s Mawj, who not only followed up in the Jumeirah Guineas but also went on to land the 1000 Guineas at Newmarket.

Cinderella’s Dream was extremely short odds to maintain her unbeaten record on ‘Super Saturday’, but disaster almost struck at the halfway stage as William Buick’s saddle slipped forward, prompting the dual champion jockey to kick his feet out of the irons for the remainder of the race.

Buick could do little more than sit and suffer from the home turn, but it did not prevent Charlie Appleby’s charge from going through the gears and she pulled five and a half lengths clear of the Amy Murphy-trained Geologist with the minimum of fuss.

Paddy Power cut Cinderella’s Dream to 12-1 from 16-1 for the 1000 Guineas at Newmarket on May 5, and Buick had nothing but praise for the three-year-old following her latest triumph.

“She took a hold early and she’s only quite slight, so when I took a pull my saddle slightly went up in front of me, and then when the pace slackened her going into the turn and I steadied her off heels, it went up again,” he told the Dubai Racing Club.

“I’m not sure what you could see on the TV, but I was getting a bit unbalanced up her neck, so the safest thing to do was to kick my feet out (of the stirrups) and she’s still managed to win.

“She was very professional, it was a bit of a rodeo show really but she got the job done.

“She’s really progressing and she’s won as she liked with no help at all. I think she’s done really well and with each start she keeps doing things better, so you’d be very happy with that.”

Leading Champion Bumper contender Maughreen has been ruled out of the Cheltenham Festival after suffering a minor setback.

The daughter of Walk In The Park is bred to be smart, being out of a half-sister to the brilliant Faugheen, and could not have been more impressive when scoring by 11 lengths on her racecourse debut at Punchestown in January.

The five-year-old was disputing favouritism with some bookmakers to provide trainer Willie Mullins with a 13th Champion Bumper success at Prestbury Park – and while she will not be making the trip across the Irish Sea, connections are hopeful she will make a full recovery.

James Fenton, racing manager for her Closutton Racing Club owners, said: “The team at Willie’s just copped that she wasn’t moving correctly after a piece of work during the week, we’ve done a bit of investigating to see what was going on and we caught something very small.

“She’s by no means in any danger or anything like that, it’s an injury that I would take every day of the week. It’s very minor and the prognosis for it is described as excellent.

“She was going to Cheltenham, that was the plan. I discussed it on Monday night with Willie and a lot of the members had their plane tickets booked and everything, but they’re very understanding as that’s the game we’re in.”

On whether Maughreen could run later in the spring, Fenton added: “It’s up in the air at the moment, but there’s one thing we won’t be doing and that’s putting pressure on her.

“She’ll be well looked after, we’ll get her right and we’ll kick on again. We’ll just have to reassess her after two weeks and I would expect her to make a full recovery.”

Tributes have been paid to Cheltenham Gold Cup-winning trainer Mark Bradstock, who has died aged 66.

Along with his wife Sara, Bradstock trained Coneygree to become the first novice since Captain Christy 41 years earlier to land the blue riband at Prestbury Park in 2015.

The Old Manor Stables handler also saddled Carruthers to win the 2011 Hennessy Gold Cup at Newbury, while Step Back was another big-race victor in the 2018 bet365 Gold Cup at Sandown.

Coneygree was ridden at Cheltenham by Nico de Boinville, who is now established as one of the top riders in the sport.

He wrote on X (formerly Twitter): “Thinking of the Bradstock family. I owe them all so much, they played an integral part in getting me going. Mark will be hugely missed.”

Bradstock’s final runner Mr Vango won the Devon National at Exeter on February 23 by 60 lengths and could now line up in the National Hunt Chase at the Cheltenham Festival later this month.

Retired jockey Mattie Batchelor, who was on board Carruthers for his Hennessy triumph and also steered Coneygree to two Grade Two victories over hurdles, posted: “Thank you very much for the memories!!!! We had some great times and more importantly some great laughs!!!!! Condolences to Sara, Alfie (son) and Lily (daughter).”

Newbury’s BetVictor Greatwood Gold Cup meeting was given the green light following a second morning inspection at the Berkshire circuit.

While Friday’s six-race card took place in its entirety, conditions worsened throughout the day and with further rain forecast, an initial precautionary check was announced for 8am.

The course was found to be waterlogged in places early on Saturday morning, but officials were keen to give the fixture every chance and the track was passed fit to race shortly before a second planned inspection time of 10am.

Saturday’s Navan card, featuring the Grade Three Flyingbolt Novice Chase and the Grade Two BoyleSports Webster Cup, will also go ahead as scheduled after the course passed a a 7.30am inspection.

IHRB clerk of the course Paddy Graffin said: “I’m pleased to say that the track at Navan is fit for racing and has passed our inspection here this morning.

“The team here at Navan have done an outstanding job on the track and there is no longer any standing water. The ground remains heavy, and will be testing, but racing goes ahead.”

Leopardstown’s meeting on Sunday came through an initial Saturday morning inspection, but a further check has been announced for 3pm this afternoon.

“The track at Leopardstown remains unfit for racing at present due to snow still lying in some areas,” said clerk of the course Lorcan Wyer.

“However, there has been improvement since yesterday and further thaw is expected today so will have a further inspection at 3pm this afternoon.”

Newbury’s BetVictor Greatwood Gold Cup meeting was given the green light following a second morning inspection at the Berkshire circuit.

While Friday’s six-race card took place in its entirety, conditions worsened throughout the day and with further rain forecast, an initial precautionary check was announced for 8am.

The course was found to be waterlogged in places early on Saturday morning, but officials were keen to give the fixture every chance and the track was passed fit to race shortly before a second planned inspection time of 10am.

Saturday’s Navan card, featuring the Grade Three Flyingbolt Novice Chase and the Grade Two BoyleSports Webster Cup, will also go ahead as scheduled after the course passed a a 7.30am inspection.

IHRB clerk of the course Paddy Graffin said: “I’m pleased to say that the track at Navan is fit for racing and has passed our inspection here this morning.

“The team here at Navan have done an outstanding job on the track and there is no longer any standing water. The ground remains heavy, and will be testing, but racing goes ahead.”

Leopardstown’s meeting on Sunday came through an initial Saturday morning inspection, but a further check has been announced for 3pm this afternoon.

“The track at Leopardstown remains unfit for racing at present due to snow still lying in some areas,” said clerk of the course Lorcan Wyer.

“However, there has been improvement since yesterday and further thaw is expected today so will have a further inspection at 3pm this afternoon.”