Alan King’s seven-year-old put in a smart round of jumping to land chase debut
Connections will be happy enough with Yanworth’s first start over the larger obstacles as the Grade 1 winning hurdler won by two lengths at Exeter on Tuesday afternoon.
Last season’s Liverpool Hurdle winner was ‘novicey’ at his first few fences (as should be expected), especially when putting in one huge leap early doors. However, jockey Barry Geraghty got him into a nice rhythm and his jumping improved as a result.
The free-going Sternrubin gave him a lead throughout and looked a danger turning for home before some errant jumping on his part appeared to hamper his chances and although Yanworth fiddled his way through the second last, there was clearly plenty left in the tank as he pulled clear after the last for a satisfying start to his chase career.
12/1 ante-post favourite for the RSA Chase before the off, bookmakers were largely unmoved by the performance, happy to keep him at the head of the market alongside Gordon Elliott’s Death Duty. He is also towards the top of the market for the JLT where he remains best-price 9/1 alongside Finian's Oscar.
Oddschecker spokesperson George Elek: "Of his eight wins over hurdles, only two were by a winning margin over three lengths so a 20 length demolition was probably never on the cards, especially with Sternrubin being a smart enough horse in his own right. Although bookmakers failed to cut him for the RSA in March, connections will be happy enough with what they saw and he remains a horse of huge potential over fences.
