Datsalrightgino wins the Coral Gold Cup at odds of 16-1 after epic ride by jockey Gavin Sheehan

THEY should have called him Dats-morethan-alrightgino.

Because Jamie Snowden’s seven-year-old produced the performance of his life to win the Coral Gold Cup at Newbury.

He might have been a 16-1 shot, but he won the £250,000 handicap with the authority of a horse destined for the very top.

If, like nice guy Snowden, you train in nearby Lambourn, there’s pretty much nothing you wouldn’t do to win this race, for 60-odd years called the Hennessy.

Lambourn is one of jump racing’s main nerve centres and just 15 miles up the road, so it’s no understatement to say Newbury’s big’un is the holy grail in these parts.

Snowden, a one-time army officer, had a taste of what success would feel like when assistant to Nicky Henderson in 2005 when Trabolgan won.

Given the upward trajectory of his yard, it was only going to be a matter of time before we were saluting one of his horses in the great race.

And he did it with a jockey who, it’s fair to say, could have ended up on the scrap heap had Snowden not intervened.

Gavin Sheehan – who was meant to be riding at Newcastle before that meeting was abandoned – has had an up and down few years, it’s fair to say.

He looked destined for the top when stable jock to Warren Greatrex, but when that yard fell on hard times so did he, while he lost the job as retained jock to Andrew Brooks shortly after a falling out with Paul Nicholls in 2021.

Since being given a shot by Snowden things have picked up, and now he has one of the most prestigious jump races of the year on his CV.

Hats off to him, he gave the 16-1 shot a peach of a ride, anchoring him at the rear of the field for the first circuit before gradually picking them off on the final lap.

The horse bounded over the fourth last like a stag and from that point on it was a question of when Sheehan would push the button.

He said ‘go’ on the run to the last and away Datsalrightgino went, beating the smooth-travelling Irish challenge Mahler Mission by three and three quarter lengths.

Monbeg Genius ran on late for third with Eldorado Allen back in fourth, but none of them could land a glove on Gino.

Snowden said: “These big handicaps are very hard to win, especially this one which is one of the biggest races of the year. 

“It’s a dream come true, honestly, this is a home fixture for Lambourn yards and this is the race we all want to win.

“Fair play to the whole team but Gavin has been saying for ages he can’t wait to get the horse up to three miles and he was bang on.

“We had a good celebration when Ga Law won at Cheltenham last year and I think we might outdo it this time!”

It’ll be orange juice and lemonade if anything for an over-the-moon Sheehan, who is due to ride at Leicester tomorrow.

The chuffed jockey said: “I thought to myself if I won this race I will probably cry my eyes out.

“Well, I’m not crying but I definitely would have been if I was riding at Newcastle and I watched this lad win!

“From start to finish I didn’t miss a beat. I knew we had plenty left in the tank four out when he came up with a big jump for me. 

“Six years ago I was leading jockey at this meeting, but things got tough after that and I hadn’t had a ride in the race since then.

“It’s amazing how things work out and this is such a thrill.”

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