Many owners spend a lifetime in racing without experiencing even a fraction of the success that Sir Alex Ferguson has enjoyed over the last 48 hours, and the former Manchester United manager’s second big-race double in as many days here ­on Saturday came with the promise of better yet to come.

Il Ridoto, from the Paul Nicholls stable, was his biggest winner on the afternoon, taking the Paddy Power Gold Cup, the feature event of Cheltenham’s November meeting, by four and a half lengths, but it was the emphatic success of L’Eau du Sud in the card’s two-mile novice chase that will have Ferguson dreaming of a winner at the Festival meeting here in March.

Continue reading...