Vautour made to work hard by Ptit Zig at Ascot

Vautour made a victorious return to action as he landed the Stella Artois 1965 Chase at Ascot, although he made relatively hard work of seeing off Ptit Zig.

Sent off the 2-5 favourite for Willie Mullins and Ruby Walsh, Vautour was enjoying a first start since powering home by 15 lengths in the JLT Novices' Chase at Cheltenham back in March.

Walsh set out to make every yard in the two-mile-five-furlong contest and everything appeared to be going smoothly until Vautour made a bad mistake seven fences from home, crashing through the obstacle.

However, Walsh regained his composure and Vautour was soon back in his stride as Ptit Zig emerged as his only real challenger.

The Paul Nicholls-trained runner pushed the favourite all the way up the straight and after briefly looking as though he might push on, Vautour dug deep and found a little extra to win by a length and three-quarters.

RSA Chase winner O’Faolains Boy never really got going on his return from a lengthy spell on the sidelines and was pulled up passing the post first time.

Walsh said: “He made a mistake at the bottom of the hill second time round, but he was quite fresh going to post. I just thought he was rusty.

“I was getting him to pop early on and then he came with a big one, the ditch,down the hill, and was spot on at the next.

“We went a really good enough gallop. Ptit Zig had a run under his belt and was a good novice last year. He had match fitness.

“Ascot does take horses to the left over fences. I don’t know why. The fences down the hill are all angled and makes it look a lot worse than it is.

“I wouldn’t be worried about going left or right.”

Owner Rich Ricci believes there is plenty of improvement to come from his horse and is looking forward to tackling the King George VI Chase at Kempton on St Stephen's Day.

He said: “I’d say he was about half fit today. He’s jumped a bit left which can sometimes happens at Ascot, but he needed the run badly and I’m pleased with the way it went.

“I think we will get him fine-tuned for the King George and hopefully he is the horse we think he is. It was a great run and we’re delighted with that.

“I hope he’s a Gold Cup horse but the King George will tell us a lot as to where we go for the rest of the season.

“He’s certainly got the speed to be two-miler, but Ruby and Willie say he will do anything between two and four miles.”

King George sponsor William Hill left Vautour unchanged as a 9-4 favourite for the King George and the 4-1 market leader for the Cheltenham Gold Cup.