Sean Bowen looks real McCoy at Cheltenham in emulating legend’s never-say-die ride

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On an afternoon for the National Hunt diehards here on Friday, as Storm Claudia battered racegoers and runners alike, one rider’s refusal to be cowed by either the elements or circumstance was a beacon in the gloom.There were distinct echoes of Tony McCoy’s famous never-say-die ride on Wichita Lineman as Sean Bowen niggled, coaxed and cajoled the novice chaser Wade Out around two circuits of Cheltenham, and it was only in the final moments of a race that took nearly seven minutes to run that Bowen’s mount appeared to have any realistic chance of winning.Wade Out was last of the four remaining runners heading out onto the final circuit, and from there he scarcely jumped a single fence with any fluency or speed.Several times, he appeared to be dropping away, only for Bowen to roust him back onto the coattails of his three rivals.His final flat spot came on the run down the hill, and this time, it seemed that it was surely all over for Wade Out, as One Big Bang and Isaac Des Obeaux were clearly going much better as they eased clear.

But as the final fence loomed and the leaders started to tire, Bowen and Wade Out appeared from the gloom to challenge on the inside, and despite another untidy jump, an indefatigable jockey and his equally determined mount were three lengths clear at the line.“He was lazy, he didn’t jump because he was lazy and probably the ground didn’t help him,” Bowen said.“He did a lot wrong and still managed to win.I was on nothing two out and at the last, and I was a bit annoyed there was nothing there, but then he got to the front and had a look around again.So he’s a good horse, you just have to try and get the best out of him.

”If Bowen and Wade Out supplied the grit on Friday’s card, it was L’Eau du Sud, in the Grade Two Shloer Chase, that provided the quality,Dan Skelton’s chaser, a close fourth in last year’s Arkle Trophy after jumping the last in front, came home on a tight rein and 15 lengths in front of Jonbon, the winner of the race for the past two years,“We had him prepared for today and we’re super-happy with what we’ve seen,” Skelton said, “It means we’re going to head down that Grade One route and what a joy to be able to look forward to it,“We’ll go to the Tingle Creek [at Sandown in December] and then map it out,The mistake I made last year, I didn’t want to say it at the time but I kind of knew in my heart going away from Warwick [on 8 February], that we shouldn’t have run him there and gone straight to the Arkle [in March].

But it got him more experience, and we’ll look forward not back.”Saturday’s card at Cheltenham, featuring the Paddy Power Gold Cup, will be subject to a precautionary inspection at 7.30am after Friday’s stormy conditions.“We’ve still got further rain to come,” Jon Pullin, the clerk of the course, said on Friday.“Having opened it up, it makes sense to have a look in the morning.

“The forecast is saying it should be drying up from 1am and we do know that once this track gets a bit of a window without any rain, it does start to drain and hopefully that will be the case,”Just 6lb separates the entire field according to Timeform’s ratings for the Paddy Power Gold Cup at Cheltenham on Saturday, and Friday’s heavy rain will ensure that the first big handicap chase of the new jumps season will be a test for horses and punters alike,Paul Nicholls’s Il Ridoto has been a fixture in the track’s two-and-a-half mile handicap chases for the past three seasons and has form figures of 4-3-1 in the last three running’s of Saturday’s feature,He beat several fellow Cheltenham regulars 12 months ago, however, and faces a different challenge this time around from an assortment of promising second-season chasers,Thecompanysergeant, second in the valuable Plate Handicap Chase on the New course here at the festival in March, is a leading player on that form, but must now carry a big weight in demanding ground, while Sam Thomas’s Vicenzo, another with an obvious chance on his progressive chase form, is unproven at the trip on testing going.

With more rain forecast, it could pay to look towards the bottom of the weights and Paul Nolan’s Conyers Hill (2.20), sixth in the Grand Annual over two miles at the festival in March, is an interesting each-way option at around 16-1.He is just seven races into his chase career, acts on heavy ground and his handy racing weight of 11st 1lb could make all the difference at the business end of a gruelling contest.Uttoxeter 12.07 Reinado 12.

42 Queenofthejukebox 1,17 Gold Clermont 1,52 Passing Kate 2,27 Jasmine d’Airy 3,02 Drayton Flyer 3.

37 Eastern Fire Wetherby 12.15 Great Notions 12.50 Get On George 1.25 Hara Kiri 2.00 Meetmebythesea 2.

35 Glen Road 3.10 Cueros 3.43 CerendipityCheltenham 12.35 Hallelujah U 1.10 Kelce 1.

45 Be Aware 2.20 Conyers Hill (nap) 2.55 Long Draw 3.30 Kap Boy (nb) 4.00 Divine Diva Cheltenham 1.

45: Dan Skelton has shown his knack for turning 130+-rated handicap hurdlers into even better chasers twice in the last four runnings of this race, with L’Eau du Sud and Third Time Lucki, and last year’s Greatwood Handicap Hurdle runner-up, Be Aware, arrives with a very similar profile,Cheltenham 2,55: The time of the handicap hurdle over track and trip at the October meeting suggests that it is the strongest form on offer,and though third-home Supremely West is a logical favourite at around 7-4, Long Draw was less than three lengths further back, equally likely to come on for his seasonal debut and better than twice the price at around 6-1,Wetherby 3.

10: Cueros was an emphatic 14-length winner first time up over hurdles and is marginally preferred to another useful prospect in Fresh Perspective.Cheltenham 3.30: Having switched stables from Paul Nicholls to Olly Murphy over the summer, Kap Boy was a convincing winner on his first start his new yard at Perth last time and goes well on testing ground.Wetherby 3.43: Cerendipity made a solid return to action behind the promising Be Aware last month and can race off the same mark here.

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‘I’m now a one-issue voter’: US shoppers fear Italian pasta tariff will cause shortage

On Monday night, Kelly planned to make dinner and spend the night inside with her family. Instead, she told her husband to put the kids to bed so she could get in the car, drive to Wegmans and “panic buy” $100 worth of Rummo pasta.Kelly, a 42-year-old product manager who lives outside Philadelphia, has celiac disease, which means that eating gluten triggers an immune response that leads to digestive issues. She saw fellow gluten-free people on Reddit and TikTok freaking out over the fact that the US is mulling a 107% tariff on Italian pasta imports. According to the Wall Street Journal, the hike could lead to those companies withdrawing from the US market as early as January

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Jimi Famurewa’s recipe for puff-puff pancakes

Efteling is a fairytale-themed, 73-year-old amusement park in the south of the Netherlands that, after two consecutive years of visits, has become an acute obsession among my family. We love the vaguely folk-horror animatronic trees, witches and giant sea monsters lurking within a labyrinthine real forest. We love the anthropomorphised talking bins that plead (in a haunting, perpetual sing-song) for crumpled pieces of paper to be shoved into their suction-powered mouths. We love the inventive rides that, variously, judder along rattling wooden tracks, plunge cursed pirate ships into water, or nudge gondolas serenely through sylvan scenes of bum-flashing goblins showering beneath waterfalls.But our very favourite thing about the place might well be the poffertjes stand, a perennially busy kiosk where exhausted families gather for dinky paper boats filled with these yeast-puffed and sugar-dusted miniature buckwheat pancakes that are a Dutch institution

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Polpa position: budget tinned tomatoes score well in Choice taste test

Consumer advocacy group Choice has taste-tested 18 brands of chopped and diced tomatoes, finding three cheaper cans outranked many more expensive brands.Four judges ranked tinned tomatoes from Australian supermarkets and retailers, assessing them on flavour, texture, appearance and aroma – with flavour accounting for the biggest percentage of overall scores.Italian brand Mutti’s Polpa Organic chopped tomatoes, costing $2.95 for a 400g tin, was awarded the highest score of 80%. It was the most expensive product tested, described by judge Fiona Mair (who also judges at the Sydney Royal Fine Food Show) as having “an earthy fresh tomato aroma, really rich juice and flesh”

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Three plant-based chocolate mousse recipes by Philip Khoury

Mousse au chocolat is one of the most exquisite ways to enjoy chocolate – so here are three recipes that offer it in different textures and levels of chocolate intensity. Each one works beautifully with dark chocolate containing 65-80% cocoa solids. Blends with no specific origin can be further rounded out with one teaspoon of vanilla paste or the seeds from a vanilla bean.Once the mousses have been prepared, they can be frozen and gently defrosted in the refrigerator. Top with chocolate shavings, cocoa nibs or a dusting of unsweetened cocoa powder for texture and contrast

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Don’t pour that olive brine down the drain – it’s a flavour bomb | Waste not

When I taste-tested olives for the food filter column a few months ago, it reminded me that the brine is an ingredient in its own right. This intensely savoury liquid adds umami depth to whatever it touches, and, beyond seasoning soups and stews, it can also be used to make salamoia, the aromatic brine that’s traditionally used to top focaccia and create that perfect salty crust.Pouring olive brine down the sink is like washing pure flavour down the drain. Instead, save it to supercharge your focaccia, creating a beautifully flavoured, salted crust that elevates an ordinary loaf into something extraordinary. While I’m partial to rosemary and olives as toppings, this focaccia delivers heaps of flavour even when kept completely plain and simple

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Jelly’s back! Here are three worth making – and three that should wobble off to the bin

Jelly has a dowdy reputation, but it may well be the perfect food for the Instagram age: when it works, it’s incredibly photogenic, so who cares what it tastes like?There can be no other explanation for recent claims that savoury jellies – the most lurid and off-putting of dishes, reminiscent of the worst culinary efforts of the 1950s – are suddenly fashionable. This resurgence comes, according to the New York Times, “at a time when chefs are feeling pressure to produce viral visuals and molecular gastronomy is old hat”.The notion that jelly is having a moment is actually a perennial threat: this time last year it was reported that supermarket jelly cube sales were rising sharply, while vintage jelly moulds were experiencing a five-fold increase in online sales. And it was 15 years ago that the high-end “jellymongers” Bompas & Parr – known for their elaborate architectural creations – first published their book on the subject.People who are sceptical about jelly are often put off by its origins