Briony Frost rides Pacha Du Polder to victory in Foxhunter Chase

Frost rode to a thrilling narrow victory over Katie Walsh

Charles Reynolds
Friday 17 March 2017 17:39 GMT
Comments
Briony Frost completed a historic familial treble with her winning ride
Briony Frost completed a historic familial treble with her winning ride (Getty)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Pacha Du Polder, an 18/1 outsider, has won the catchily-named St. James's Place Foxhunter Challenge Cup Open Hunters' Chase, giving trainer Paul Nicholls his first win of the festival.

Briony Frost rode to a thrilling narrow victory over Katie Walsh on Wonderful Charm as Nicholls enjoyed a one-two in the race.

It completed a historic treble for the Frost family, with father Jimmy winning the National in 1989 and brother Hadden winning the Pertemps in 2010.

The pre-race talk and betting had focused on On The Fringe winning a third successive Foxhunters, however Jamie Codd was unable to do it, the horse never really threatening the leaders and having to settle for fourth place.

Balnaslow had led the way for much of the race, still leading with two fences to jump, but Pacha Du Polder was well placed just behind and just had enough in the tank to hold off a very spirited late charge from Wonderful Charm and Katie Walsh.

Barel of Laughs finished in third, a great result for a horse that started the race as a 100/1 no hoper.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in