Subscribe Viking Flagship was five lengths to the good and pulling up at the post
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Viking Flagship was five lengths to the good and pulling up at the post."He's really game," Swan said. "Half-way down the back I wasn't sure he'd keep going, but when he got to the top of the hill, he came off it very strongly." Still only eight, Viking Flagship should be back next year with every chance as will, we must hope, Maguire and Martha's Son.Maguire missed the day's first winner, too, when Nicholson's Putty Road got up to beat Berude Not To in the final stride of the Sun Alliance Novices' Hurdle. Two lengths back was Treble Bob, the subject of a bet of £100,000 to win £200,000. The punter concerned did not even have the pleasure of beating the book - Dermot Weld's runner was returned at 9-4.The Irish did better in the Coral Cup, with Chance Coffey, from Pat O'Donnell's six-horse stable, beating Derrymoyle and Time For A Run.
The one they were aching for, though, let them down.Harcon, 6-4 favourite for the Sun Alliance Chase, sailed past Banjo, supposedly his one serious rival, half a mile from the finish. Just as swiftly, though, he was overtaken by Brief Gale, and his lack of a finishing kick was soon apparent. Josh Gifford's mare, ridden with patience by Philip Hide, finished nine lengths clear, and the extra furlong of next year's Gold Cup - a race for which she is 16-1 with Coral - would only have increased her superiority. With normal progress, Gifford will have a potent challenger 12 months' today.The most surprising aspect of Brief Gale's win was that Kadi, narrowly beaten by her last month, was allowed to start at 11-2 for the Mildmay of Flete Chase an hour later. Norman Williamson knew what Kadi could do, and forced him past Dublin Flyer 100 yards out to record his third winner of the meeting (he also deputised for Maguire on Putty Road).Having started the week without a success at the Festival, Williamson is now odds-on to finish it as the top jockey.. SNOOKER Ronnie O'Sullivan completed an impressive 5-1 victory over Peter Ebdon in the quarter-finals of the Kloster Thailand Open in Bangkok yesterday and admitted: "I'd swap my Masters crown to win this title." O'Sullivan is taking nothing for granted, even though he is on course for a top-four ranking next season. "One or two players can still overtake me, which make events like this far more important than the one I won at Wembley last month," he said.
"There was more money at the Masters, but ranking points matter most and while I can't catch Stephen Hendry at the moment, I've got to start thinking of knocking him off the No 1 spot sometime."The 19-year-old, still looking for his first ranking-event victory this season, added: "This is the third semi-final of the season for me in a ranking tournament so perhaps it's third time lucky. I must have a great chance now of winning."It was Ebdon's seventh defeat in eight matches against O'Sullivan, who conceded: "I don't think Peter likes playing me He always gives me lots of chances. Perhaps it is something to do with the number of times we played each other as amateurs. I always seemed to beat him then."O'Sullivan will meet either Tony Drago or Cliff Thorburn in the semi- finals..