The versatile Mark Of Gold won his eleventh race at Ascot on Saturday but it was the seven-year-old’s first victory over fences. He won the G2 Howden Noel Novices’ Chase for owners Stevie Fisher and Friends and for co-trainers Gary and Josh Moore.
Mark Of Gold, bred by The Kathryn Stud, has races 33 times in total, winning three on the Flat and another seven over hurdles before becoming Golden Horn’s first graded winner in a steeplechase.
His win on Friday was followed up at Hereford on Saturday by the 148-rated Nemean Lion, who carried top weight in the Class 2 handicap hurdle for Kerry Lee and won by five and a half lengths. He too has won on the Flat and has now claimed five victories over hurdles, including last season’s G2 Kingwell Hurdle at Wincanton. The seven-year-old was bred in Germany by Group 1-winning breeder Dr Christoph Berglar.
Jack Hobbs fired in yet another winner on Friday when Henrysbrotherjack landed his first win at Uttoxeter for Olly Murphy. The five-year-old was bred by the trainer’s father, Aiden Murphy.
