Joyeuse ran into a win in Newbury to keep a trophy William Hill Hurdle in Nicky Henderson’s yard.
Siva is from the Epatante family and like this is a mare owned by JP McManus, for which Henderson and Nico de Boinville combined to win this race last season with Iberico Lord.
That horse was a part of the lineup once more, but De Boinville decided to drive Joyeuse and she went from a 9-2 chances under favorable weight.
She succeeded in a quick race on soft soil, cracked clean in the final stages and crossing the line on the bucket when eight lengths were in front of the lump sum of Thomas herself.
Joyeuse was cut through the bookmakers to 8-1 for the county obstacle, but the mare is not currently qualified to run in a handicap at Cheltenham Festival.
“She’s good and she looked really good there, she traveled well, jumped well and did everything right,” Henderson said.
“She really attached and you have to say that she was in a perfect position all the way. It was just perfection and everywhere you looked, everything seemed very directly.
“The step in traveling was well suited to her and this was a true running of two miles and I think there is some cutting in the country.
“She can’t go to the Cheltenham Festival Festival Handicap because she needs another ride to go in and I can hardly run her again between Cheltenham. She only had four runs over obstacles, and she needs another to run into a handicap.
“It caused a dilemma, but that’s a good problem.”
Henderson won the seventh time race, and the coach was delighted once again that he asked for a prize with a richly bordered on his local path.
He added: “It’s a great race and a local race, and one followed all those years. She changed his names several times, but well performed in William Hill because he came in and sponsors – that means a lot.
“She’s a good mare and all my winners were good and coming here under different shapes. She was quite inexperienced, but she was good. It’s only the fourth race in her life.”
De Boinville was impressed with Joyeuse, but described as a “madness” the fact that Joyeuse could not currently go to Cheltenham handicap.
He said, “She went through the race very lightly and jumped great. It was very direct.
“It’s crazy that he can’t go to Cheltenham. I would say it’s pretty boxers that you can win a handicap like that, but you can’t run in Cheltenham, there are more money here than Cheltenham.”
