Olive and Viroflay are Cheltenham-bound

A DOMINANT run at the Blackmore and Sparkford Vale Pointto-Point meeting has landed jockey Olive Nicholls and her horse Viroflay a place in the final of the Ineos Grenadier Mixed Open Championship at Cheltenham in May.

The Charlton Horethorne circuit was one of 16 chosen to host a round in the series, with the winner of each going onto Cheltenham to contest the championship finale during the course’s May evening meeting.

Olive is the daughter of Ditcheat trainer Paul Nicholls, coowner with John Bolton of the horse who has won French flat races as well as over UK hurdles. Just days before her success at the BSV, Olive had won her first meeting under rules at a meeting at Wincanton.

Isobel Radford Jones, 13, who won the first pony race on Ladies Day