Kim Bailey’s Does He Know returned to winning ways at Cheltenham on Sunday as he carried 12-stone to a decisive success.
The seven-year-old gelding, who is a three-time successor around Prestbury Park, was priced up as the 6/1 third favourite on his fourth start in six races at the Gloucestershire track – he was disappointing in March at the Cheltenham Festival when he finished 19th in the Grade 3 Ultima Handicap Chase.
Bailey, who made it one victory from one runner at Cheltenham this season thanks to Does He Know, was delighted that his horse had returned to the legendary winner’s enclosure.
“We were wrong at the weights – we gave Nigel Twiston-Davies’ horse [Fantastikas] eight pounds in March and we have had to do something similar today – and I thought it was an amazing performance,” chuckled the Gold Cup-winning trainer.
“That’s a huge step forward from what he’s done before in his second time in a handicap – when he turned into the straight, that’s when I thought he might win because he went so wide, I thought he was going to join the hurdles track!”
Embed from Getty ImagesOwned by the Yes He Does syndicate and running off a career-high handicap mark, the Grade 2 Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle winner fell at the first fence on his seasonal reappearance at Kelso last month, though he quickly got to his feet after the event.
Despite having no physical abnormalities after his tumble, jockey David Bass admitted he had to slightly alter his riding style on him to make sure he could perform at his best.
“I wanted to give him loads of room over the first because he was obviously jumped into at Kelso – it wasn’t his fault, he jumped the fence fine, but something wiped him out in mid-air – so I just thought that I needed to get his confidence up over the first few,” said the 11-time Cheltenham successor.
“He jumped them okay and I was always happy after that as his class just meant he could travel away behind the leaders in his comfort zone.”
The future remains open for Does He Know going forward, however, Bailey, a trainer who won the Aintree Grand National in 1990 with Mr Frisk, believes that the world-famous 4m2f contest in April could be a possibility.
“Knowing David Bass, he would definitely yes,” laughed the Gloucestershire-based operator. “The National is not what it was – it was bottomless when he won at Ascot, so he seems to go on any ground, and I’ve always been told that good horses go on any ground.”
Embed from Getty ImagesHowever, stable jockey Bass has a more rigid view on the topic, as he said: “He should know better as he has trained National winners before, but he is not a Grand National horse.
“He’s going to be off a mark of 155 plus going forward so he is going to be hard to place – I wouldn’t know where is next for him now, the only thing I would say is he likes it around here!”
