Bob Le Beau big winner at Radnor Hunt Races

At each of the first 11 fences, the five-horse pack leaped one after another, and Portrade kept a comfortable lead.

But after the last jump, three horses closed in on Portrade, and it was Bob Le Beau who edged ahead before storming past the finish line. Ridden by jockey Jack Doyle, Bob Le Beau was the biggest winner at the Radnor Hunt Races in Malvern on Saturday. He won the National Hunt Cup - the six-race event's feature run - and a $50,000 purse for his owners at the Fields Stable.

Behind Bob Le Beau was Decoy Daddy in second, Parker's Project in third, Portrade in fourth, and Sporty in fifth.

"Who would have thought, Bob Le Beau?" said Elizabeth Voss, Bob Le Beau's trainer, as she ran out to greet the horse on the side of the track.

"I knew it," Doyle answered, smiling at Voss and patting Bob Le Beau's neck.

Portrade, ridden by jockey Gustav Dahl, surged ahead of the pack out of the gate and led for most of the race. Willie McCarthy, who rode Pennsylvania-bred Parker's Project, planned to watch most of the race unfold from behind the pack before making a move at the end.

And while McCarthy wasn't fully successful doing so, two other jockeys were.

"As we came up the hill I knew my horse was just a bit tired," Dahl said. "I needed a good last fence to stay in it, which I got, but [Portrade] was just beaten by better horses."

Decoy Daddy came from the inside and Bob Le Beau from the outside, and the two horses squeezed Portrade out of contention.

Doyle said Bob Le Beau made a small error at the last jump, getting too tight with the rest of the horses which made him nervous about the finish. But once Doyle "stuck into" his horse in the final stretch, Bob Le Beau found another gear and pulled away from the pack.

"It just comes down to the horse," Doyle said. "If they're traveling and doing everything right, it's easy to just steer them."