7:32pm Sunday 21st March 2010
NIGEL TWISTON-DAVIES said he is happy to be the forgotten man in racing after Imperial Commander gave the Gloucestershire-based trainer his first Gold Cup win.
All the talk before the race was about the rematch between the Paul Nicholls trained pair of Kauto Star and Denman, but the reigning champion unseated jockey Ruby Walsh near the finish, and the 2008 champion was unable to match Imperial Commander’s pace up the hill in the finishing straight.
Former Marlwood School pupil Nicholls had warned that the biggest challenge from outside his stable would come from the Paddy Brennan-ridden horse and Twiston-Davies fancied his chances after his horse narrowly lost to Kauto Star on the nod at Haydock last November.
However, few looked past odds-on favourite and two-time champion Kauto Star or Denman for the big race at the Cheltenham Festival, which suited Twiston-Davies nicely.
“We don’t like shouting our mouths off but I couldn’t understand it,” he said.
“Denman let himself down a bit last time and Kauto Star can’t do it every year as he proved.
We have enjoyed the publicity for Kauto Star and Denman, we always thought we had a horse who can beat them but we stayed quiet and we won.
“I hope you all forget me again after today.”
That is unlikely to happen though after this thrilling win and Imperial Commander is already 3-1 favourite to retain his crown next year.
Kauto Star never looked particularly comfortable in the wet conditions, stumbling over a fence early in the race to trail the frontrunners.
He then fell on the fourth to last fence and Imperial Commander then challenged Denman, who had been at the front throughout.
Brennan’s horse raced clear up the hill to win by seven lengths ahead of Tony McCoy on Denman, with Mon Mome beating Carruthers in a photo finish for third.
Twiston-Davies added: “You can never be confident of beating Kauto because he does so well every year but we were confident of giving him a good race.
“He gave him a good race at Haydock and he (Imperial Commander) proved he was his class then so we were very confident.”
Brennan said: “That’s all Kauto Star had to do was make one mistake.
“It’s a day I’ll never forget for the rest of my life.”
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