Webber delighted to finally get that first Festival winner

Indefatigable won Friday's Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys Handicap Hurdle in dramatic fashion in the hands of Rex Dingle. Webber, whose late father John was a dual Festival winner with Elfast in 1992 and 1994, said: "The drying ground was important, she’s a classy mare and very tough. I’m sure she would have run well in the mares’ race earlier in the week but the ground was too soft. She carried 11st 12lb here to be second to the Coral Cup winner Dame De Compagnie back in December here so the form was there.

“Everything went wrong for her and she still managed to battle home. The plan was to jump off wide and get into a good position but it all went wrong at the start.

“Rex [Dingle] did a great job of getting there, he had his instructions and his plan, knowing what he wanted to do and then suddenly it all goes wrong. So you have to start again and hope you have a willing partner and he did.

"He hadn’t sat on the horse until Tuesday when he rode out with us. Dave Roberts recommended him to us. Rex didn’t panic even when he was so far back in the field, I was hopeful but assumed she’d finished second.”