Blast from the Past: 2012 Hennessy Gold Cup

The two best performances in what is now the Ladbrokes Trophy in modern times both belong to Denman, whose wins in 2007 and 2009 were discussed in last year’s instalment of this column. Denman ran to a Timeform rating of 177 when winning his first Hennessy, defying a BHA mark of 161 in the process, and it was a similar weight-carrying performance that ranks as the third-best victory in the race since the turn of the century.

Bobs Worth was just 1 lb lower in the weights than Denman when he won the 2012 Hennessy under Barry Geraghty, following up from his RSA victory from the previous season with another career best, beating the top weight Tidal Bay (the winner of the previous season’s bet365 Gold Cup) by three and a quarter lengths in ready fashion, jumping impeccably and tanking through the race before taking up the running before the last flight. Third went to First Lieutenant, who’d chased Bobs Worth home in the RSA, and overall the race looked like a rock-solid and top-class piece of form, as the race report suggests:

Often one of the season's most competitive handicaps and this was a notably strong renewal, Bobs Worth producing a brilliant, top-class performance to justify favouritism, chased home by a better-than-ever Tidal Bay and last season's RSA Chase runner-up First Lieutenant, with a last-time-out winner further back in fourth place, and all in all it's form to be very positive about; a sound pace ensured it was the good jumping and stamina test that this race should be; some of those that were up with the pace from the outset can have their efforts marked up slightly, while there were also a few that were slightly hampered by early fallers, but that didn't have a major impact on the outcome.

Bobs Worth didn’t run again during 2012/13 until that season’s Cheltenham Festival (missed the Cotswold Chase at Cheltenham due to the ground and the Denman Chase at Newbury due to a minor setback), but the Hennessy form predictably stood up well over the Christmas period, with Tidal Bay and First Lieutenant finishing first and second in the Lexus Chase, and Teafortwo (sixth) finishing a close second in the Welsh Grand National.

Bobs Worth was sent off the 11/4 favourite for the Cheltenham Gold Cup, defending an unbeaten record at the Festival (won the Albert Bartlett prior to the RSA chase), and followed up his Hennessy victory in style, winning by seven lengths from Sir des Champs. Bobs Worth’s Gold Cup win (176 on Timeform ratings) would remain his career-best effort, and though he won the following season’s Lexus Chase, he was never able to recapture his form of 2012/13.

Looking for the answer to this year’s Ladbrokes Trophy? Whisper it quietly, but maybe an extract from Bobs Worth’s essay in Chasers & Hurdlers 2012/13 will help…

"Many a Hennessy has been won by an improving young chaser, Bobs Worth's trainer having completed the RSA/Hennessy double with Trabolgan in 2005, while the same stable's Burton Port was runner-up in both races in 2010. Trabolgan won the Hennessy under 11-12, conceding weight all round and becoming the first top weight (albeit off a BHA mark of only 151) to win the race since Burrough Hill Lad, whose success came as the reigning Cheltenham Gold Cup winner under 12-0 in 1984. Another RSA (Royal & SunAlliance) Chase winner Denman added lustre to the history of the Hennessy – racing's longest continuous commercial sponsorship – by winning the 2007 and 2009 editions under top weight of 11-12, his first win followed later the same season by victory in the Cheltenham Gold Cup."