In the five years since he began imposing his ambition and ingenuity on affairs at a farmyard stables in rural South Wales, Evan Williams has been a story waiting to happen. Though the yard was initially rustic and its inmates cast-offs and cripples, it was only a matter of time before rare talent was recognised.
Much as he likes to encourage the patronising image of “that mad Welsh farmer”, deep down he knew it himself, for Williams is imbued with self-belief as well as self-deprecation. Yesterday, however, through a hangover of glorious vindication, he was still scarcely able to credit that his day had come in one of the landmark races of winter.
State Of Play, for whom Williams paid the relative pittance of 18,000 guineas last August, secured his fourth win in five subsequent chases in a highly competitive Hennessy Cognac Gold Cup. The manner of his success, evident from some way out, told of a horse now heading for the Cheltenham Gold Cup.
Williams, having celebrated at his local pub with “too much of the sponsors’ product”, said yesterday: “I’d rule out the Welsh National, which is such a slog, and probably the King George, which looks too classy.
“On simple maths, he still falls short of the top horses, so the sensible thing is to look for another handicap and I have in mind a race at Haydock in January. If he carries his weight well there, it will tell us we can think about the Gold Cup.”
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Just like Martin Pipe, with whom there are many parallels, Williams has always challenged convention and he did so here by preparing State Of Play without a prior run. The plan was executed to perfection, not only by the trainer but by a jockey, Paul Moloney, who had been running out of supporters before Williams enlisted him to his tight-knit team.
Moloney rode a textbook race on the 10-1 shot, holding a prominent position on the rail and unleashing a withering charge in the home straight. It was a ride that confirmed the ability of Williams to judge and influence humans as well as horses.
“If you see something, be it in a horse or a person, you have to trust that judgment and give them belief in themselves,” Williams explained. “You can’t just be one of the sheep and follow everyone else in life.
“I would be a hard enough man to work for but Paul has never let me down. This man is class but I’m not sure he knew that himself. Just watch how he develops now he’s had a chance.”
Williams, whose unusual methods include keeping his horses on the move for much of each day to counteract boredom, clearly has an enviable eye for a good one. He also bought Demi Beau, winner of a £100,000 chase last week, for a mere 12,000 guineas and that one is now heading for the Victor Chandler Chase.
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“I couldn’t say exactly why I buy horses,” he admitted. “But I know what I like and I will always go for the athletes over a big type. State Of Play struck me as athletic from the day I saw him and, heading into this race, I was scared by my own confidence.”
Though it, too, started life as a farm, Howard Johnson’s Co Durham yard is on an altogether different scale since it embraced the millions of Graham Wylie. Inglis Drever, one of the flagbearers when winning the Ladbrokes World Hurdle the season before last, could be heading back for a repeat after a tenacious Newbury success on his return from a tendon injury.
Much the most striking hurdling performance of the weekend, though, came at Newcastle, where Straw Bear left no doubts about his Champion Hurdle credentials with a smooth five-length victory over some higher-rated rivals in the grade one Fighting Fifth Hurdle.
For Nick Gifford, another young trainer on an upward graph, this was a massively reassuring day. “There is always that seed of doubt in your mind about whether they will train on,” he said yesterday. “But he couldn’t have done that any better and he’ll now go to Kempton for the Christmas Hurdle.”
Deep Impact lands Japan Cup
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Deep Impact returned to his best to claim the Japan Cup yesterday, with Ouija Board far from disgraced in third. Yutake Take adopted his usual tactics on the winner, dropping his mount to the rear of the field before unleashing him down the outside to score by two lengths from Dream Passport, with Ouija Board a quarter of a length away. Ouija Board will contest the Hong Kong Vase next month before being retired.