Rising star Greaneteen wins the Haldon Gold Cup at Exeter under ultra-confident Harry Cobden
GREANETEEN continued his climb through the two-mile chasing ranks with a cheeky win in the Haldon Gold Cup.
The improving six-year-old cruised through the race under Harry Cobden and mowed down Moonlighter in the final strides to win snugly in the Exeter feature.
The bookies were impressed, with Betfair halving his odds for the Tingle Creek into 6-1 from 12s.
If you'd taken the 15-8 about the favourite, Cobden will have filled you with confidence throughout.
The horse jumped well and picked off his rivals one by one, and as they the approached the final two fences he had the long-time leader Moonlighter (10-1) firmly in his sights.
That rival refused to lie down without a fight and gained the upper hand with a slick jump at the final fence.
But Cobden's confidence was rewarded as Greaneteen picked up smartly to give Paul Nicholls his seventh win in the Grade 2.
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Cobden said: "He travelled around lovely, his jumping was class. About three out he had a little blow and I thought we were in trouble but those good horses just keep going.
"He's a class animal and Paul hasn't drilled him at home so hopefully he'll come on for it. He's definitely a Graded horse and he'll probably want two and a half miles at some point. That was a good starting point."
Nicholls admitted he was concerned when the horse fiddled the second last and looked to hand the initiative to Moonlighter.
He said: "I think jumping the second last he made half a mistake and blew up a little bit. Harry said he peeled his lungs and he stayed on strongly. I'd say he'll improve for the run a little bit, he's a little bit buzzy.
"There's plenty more to come from him. The great thing today is that he settled as he'd been keen in his races. Harry was well impressed and he's got loads of boot for two miles and jumps well, but could probably be better over two and a half miles."
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