So great training – crap tipping Kev!
Kevin Hutton could raise a smile or two following his storming win in the inaugural ARC Judgement Night at Nottingham on Monday.
The Towcester trainer had won three previous Trainers Championship meetings and had been cautiously optimistic about his chances in last week’s interview as he flagged up Angela Harrison as the one to beat.
The latter part of the prophecy looked well judged when the Newcastle trainer produced two winners and a second from the first four races.
By the sixth race, Kevin was beginning to lose his faith.
He said: “I sat with Adam in the van when John Mullins asked how the scores were going. I said, ‘I think it’s Angela’s to lose'”
It was the turning point. Signet Ace was fancied to win the ‘standard’ with the Harrison outsider last, but the deal was sealed when 7-1 shot Southfield Code landed the stayers division with the Newcastle based favourite Coolavanny Bani trailing the field.
It was a performance where consistency ruled. The only Hutton runner to finish out of the tricast places was Headford Buzz who led in the sprint but was interfered with by the disqualified Knight Of Stars.
As for the trainer’s own tipping – only Angela Harrison landed maximum points with her joker (Coolavanny Aunty at 2-5!!). John Mullins had a winner, but tipped the wrong one (Burgess Elite). As did Patrick Janssens who went for double points with Bockos Belly, but ignored March On Magic!
The worst culprit by far though was Big Kevin himself who selected Feeling Classy despite sending out a winning double.
He laughed: “Its the same old story I’m afraid. Feeling Classy is just a grader at Towcester but I thought she might be good enough. In the end, I think she was just beaten by a couple of better dogs. I did quite fancy Signet Ace, but that was a very tough race to tip anything in.
“We had a brilliant night. These events are vital. I think Mark Wallis coined it years ago when he said that the Trainers Championship is like the Premier League but the Championship Meeting (now Judgement Night) is like the FA Cup. When you are an up-and-coming trainer, you set your sights on a top six place with this meeting in mind. I feared we had lost it altogether.
“It would be nice to go back to the eight races in the future, but I’m not complaining. We thoroughly enjoyed the whole meeting; I think most people did too.”
ICAALS ROCCO (t1) gets John Mullins off to a flying start in the Arc/Entain Trainers’ Judgement Night, beating Potent Touch (t3 Harrison) Aero Madrid (t6 Wallis) and Shrewd Call (t5 D Mullins) in the sprint. Photo: © Steve Nash
SIGNET ACE (t3) follows up his Select Stakes win with a superb victory from Tenpin (t1) in the Standard, propelling the Hutton kennel into second place behind Angela Harrison with one leg remaining on Arc Entain Trainers’ Judgement Night .
Nottingham 6th September 2021 Photo: © Steve Nash
Kevin Hutton holds the Trainers’ Judgement Night trophy alongside his team of Marc Studer (left, holding Southfield Code) and Adam Webb. Nottingham 6th September 2021 Photo: © Steve Nash
COOLAVANNY AUNTY (t1) tracks middle on the way to proving a perfect Joker choice for the Angela Harrison kennel in the Judgement Night Bitches race Nottingham 6th September 2021 Photo: © Steve Nash
In the absence of a GBGB Awards night, Patrick Janssens (right) eventually gets his hands on the 2020 Trainers Championship trophies presented by Entain Director of Stadia Ian Smyth on the Arc/Entain Trainers’ Judgement Night at Nottingham.
6th September 2021 Photo: © Steve Nash
