A Grade 1 tilt now awaits the handstands, having claimed a clear winner of the DragonBet Towton Novices’ Chase at Ffos Las to add another Grade 2 victory to his CV.
Carrying a 5lb penalty for his win at the same level at Sandown in December, the Ben Pauling-trained gelding was front and center from the drop of the flag alongside Cherie d’Am.
The latter eventually meekly dropped out after Handstands and Ben Jones took over in the race for second-last, to which the even-money favorite was a little slow.
Lord Of Thunder did very well to get back into it and try to go with it after being severely hampered by Range’s fall, but Handstands always looked in control and immediately drew after the last one.
They were the only two to finish, in what proved to be a grueling affair.
Pauling said: “I was delighted and we learned a lot because we had never raced on this sticky, tough and hard terrain before.
“I heard the reaction and some people suggested he was a bit of a novice, but I think he was just learning how to get off the ground to be honest and he was trying too hard and making a few balls.
“In the end he did it really well and Ben was pleased with the way he jumped after he filled the ditch and that’s another step in the right direction. It seemed like a pretty competitive field on the paper and I know there was a misfortune at the penultimate but I think they were all exhausted and that’s probably why they fell.
“I was really, really impressed with the way he headed for home, he just accelerated out of the corner and kind of put the race to bed and after the last one he accelerated again.
“Ben said he finished the race as fresh as a daisy and didn’t think he had too difficult a race, which is pretty amazing considering the terrain today. I’m just delighted and This is another step on the road for a beautiful, progressive, young novice hunter.
Pears could now make a relatively quick return to action at Sandown on February 1 to move up to Grade 1 in the Virgin Bet Scilly Isles Novices’ Chase.
And with Pauling and the gelding’s owners set to bypass the Cheltenham Festival and a potential clash with his high-ranking stablemate The Jukebox Man, the six-year-old gelding could instead head to Aintree in the spring.
“It’s a pretty quick turnaround for the Isles of Scilly, but it would be of great concern to us if he comes out of this in good form,” Pauling continued.
“The Radfords have never been too worried about going to Cheltenham with him this year, they’re not trying to avoid him, but they think the Isles of Scilly and maybe Aintree could be the way to go and I don’t Can’t say I don’t agree.
“If we can get to the Isles of Scilly in good shape he will have been quite busy and it will be his fourth race of the season and that, along with Aintree, could really give him a good season.”
He continued: “We have some lovely horses coming through and we are lucky to have owners who buy these horses from us, so I really have to say a huge thank you to them.
“Of course I wouldn’t really want to go and face The Jukebox Man at Cheltenham, but if the Radfords wanted to go I would. However, it’s a good position to be able to separate them.”
