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By Andrew Dietz
It was a case of friends reunited at Haydock on Saturday as Cousin Pascal was cheered to victory by the bride and groom of the wedding he attended a few months ago.
Cousin Pascal, who won last season’s Foxhunters’ Chase at Aintree, was a special guest as owner Peter Clifton’s daughter Sarah married Jason Evans in September and he gave the family another reason to smile when beating 5-6 favourite Bob And Co by two lengths in the hunter chase.
Clifton said on Sunday: “My daughter Sarah got married in September and we had him as a bit of a guest. We had about 120 guests at the service and he paraded at the drinks reception and lots of people took photographs. He was skipping and kicking out and being his exuberant self, but he was well behaved.
Watch the replay of Cousin Pascal’s win at Haydock on Saturday
“The family went to Haydock yesterday, including the bride and groom from the wedding, and we got well looked after.”
John Grossick (racingpost.com/photos)
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title=”Cousin Pascal: won the Walrus Hunters’ Chase at Haydock on Saturday”
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Cousin Pascal, trained in Cheshire by Joe O’Shea, has been a revelation for Clifton since being bought cheaply by the Shropshire farmer at the end of 2020.
“The only reason I bought Cousin Pascal was because I wanted to go point-to-pointing during lockdown and at the time you had to be an owner to attend,” he said.
“I got told he was available to buy in Ireland and when I got emailed a picture of him, I thought I better get him as he looked a proper horse. We had him vetted and bought him for £3,000.”
Cousin Pascal provided O’Shea with his fourth victory in Haydock’s Walrus Hunters’ Chase to take his tally to five wins, including two point-to-points, since moving to Britain.
His shock 66-1 Foxhunters’ win last April was a major fillip for connections, particularly as O’Shea pocketed £16,000 on successful bets on the horse.
O’Shea lives the dream and wins £16,000 in bets on Foxhunters hero Cousin Pascal
A return to Aintree, and possibly the other spring festivals, is on the cards for the ten-year-old after the win over Bob And Co, who claimed last season’s hunter chase at Punchestown.
“The horse is well this morning and he’ll tell us where we go next,” said Clifton. “He’ll go in one of the big races, which one I don’t know yet, and we’ve got until March 1 to see if we give him an entry for Cheltenham.”
Cousin Pascal is a 12-1 chance for the St James’s Place Festival Hunter Chase at Cheltenham, although O’Shea suggested he would go straight to Aintree after his win at Haydock on Saturday.
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