Former champion jockey Richard Johnson is aiming for his first major winner at Cheltenham as an owner on Saturday with Imperial Saint in the Support The Hunt Family Fund December Gold Cup.
Johnson won two Gold Cups, a Champion Chase and a Champion Hurdle during his days in the saddle, and now gets the thrill of leading what is proving to be a successful ownership syndicate.
Kikijo provided the syndicate with a first Cheltenham winner last month, but the Philip Hobbs and Johnson White-trained Imperial Saint has been the standard-bearer for some time, winning three times last season and finishing third in a competitive race on Trials Day.
“He’s been a great horse for us over the last few seasons, but he wasn’t quite right in the Old Roan,” Johnson explained of his sub-par return to the season.
“After that the plan was to go to the Paddy Power, but when it turned out he had a little problem in his back we gave him some time off. It was just one of those things that horses can’t tell you.”
“Obviously we didn’t know it at the time, but he clearly wasn’t himself that day because he was a bit confused before the race. Hindsight is a wonderful thing.”
“Hopefully he’s doing really well now. Philip and Johnson are very happy with him and it’s exciting for the syndicate to go to a big race at Cheltenham on Saturday with a decent chance for both sides.
“He has Cheltenham form to his name, despite being known as something of an Aintree specialist. It just so happened that last year the races that came out of him were at Aintree. However, he did run on Trials day at Cheltenham and ran well.”
“So while we were focusing on the Paddy Power, we switched to this after its short break and who knows, it could turn out for the best considering the way the winner (Panic Attack) arrived at Newbury! I think she was a very well handicapped horse that day.
“It’s still a very competitive race of course because you’ve got Jagwar who has also missed out on the Paddy Power, so a lot of wins will still be needed, but we hope he has a chance.”
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