Go Dante snatches Imperial Cup win in photo finish

Go Dante snatched victory in the Imperial Cup with a photo finish at Sandown.

Faivoir, ridden by Harry Skelton, was leading until the final hurdle but jockey Sean Bowen timed his finish perfectly with Go Dante.

Neither rider was confident during an anxious wait on the photo finish, but it was the Olly Murphy-trained horse that took the £100,000 prize.

"He was a bit slow at the last but he showed good attitude," said Bowen.

"You're never confident, especially in a race like that. We went a really strong gallop and we were in a nice position the whole way.

"He was in a nice bit of rhythm, he jumped and travelled, and I turned in fairly confident that I was going to pick up."

Go Dante's victory moves Bowen to within ten of Harry Cobden in the jockeys' championship.

"It's great fun and it's good that we get on - it would be fairly hard if we didn't get on," added Bowen.

"I may not win, but I might do. I'd be fairly disappointed if I didn't, but we'll give it a good go."

Murphy's next big target for Go Dante will be the Cheltenham Festival, where he holds entries in both the County Hurdle and Martin Pipe Hurdle.