Hurricane Pat Sweeps To Sandown Success For In-form Moore Team
Gary and Josh Moore's dream spell at Sandown continued Saturday when Hurricane Pat played himself into the Cheltenham Festival equation with a facile victory in the opening Betfair Exchange Claremont Novices' Hurdle.
An impressive course-and-distance scorer last month, the five-year-old was dispatched 7-2 in the Listed event and with Philip Hobbs and Johnson White's heavy preferred Sober Glory stopping working to measure up to his track record, Hurricane Pat was delegated roam home to a five-and-a-half-length success over Dan Skelton's Cheltenham winner Soldier Reeves.
Josh Moore stated: "He's won really remarkably and I was rather confident when we made the entry this was the ideal race on paper.
"It was an extremely good race on paper but he did an extremely good piece of work recently which was enough to bring him here. I was thinking he might want further but the work was with the horse that won here the other day, Macktoad, and he kind of made me think two miles would be for him.
"We constantly thought he might desire much better ground also, so today was a bit of a worry but Caoilin (Quinn, jockey) appeared to believe he was much better on this ground today.
"He was a great horse last year but he has actually enhanced up a lot over the summer season and his mind has actually matured too, he's taking whatever in his stride well. He won his 2 bumpers and we've been really with him and he's paid his method now over hurdles."
Hurricane Pat impressed at Sandown (John Walton/PA)
Hurricane Pat was introduced into the Supreme Novices' Hurdle market at 25-1 by Paddy Power, with connections entitled to begin imagining the future.
Moore added: "He's won a Noted race so he's certainly got capacity. We'll see how he comes out these days due to the fact that he is a horse we can't over race.
"You need to think along the lines of the Supreme and whether or not that may be a bit much for him we'll find out. We can definitely tailor towards that all the very same.
"It's an embarassment the Tolworth isn't here and there is constantly Aintree (Formby Novices' Hurdle). If the Tolworth had actually been here we would certainly be here. He's won that so perfectly though that I would not be in a rush to run once again."
Joe Tizzard's team are also in kind and his hot streak continued when 11-8 favourite Sunset Marquesa developed on her Exeter go back to record an emphatic six-and-a-half-length verdict in the Betfair Supports Racing With Pride Mares' Handicap Hurdle.
Tizzard stated: "She did it well and when the race cut up a bit I did expensive her to go and do that.
"It was outstanding and this was the right race today. She will get jacked up a few (pounds) and after that we'll have a great look. I was thinking increasing this morning if she goes and wins how I hope I don't have a strategy, but I will in the morning."
Hobbs and White will continue to outline a hurdling course with Kikijo after the improving 9-4 joint-favourite developed on his recent Cheltenham success with a hard-fought victory in the Pertemps Network Handicap Hurdle.
Hobbs stated: "He's a bit unusual as with a horse like him you would be believing of going novice chasing next year, but he's currently won a chase at Newbury in 2015 so that is not an alternative.
"I expect having won two hurdle races he will most likely run in another one. It gets more hard now obviously and after winning 2 in a row, it's not frequently they win 3. But we may simply have to attempt to discover another handicap obstacle someplace on a stiff track with testing ground like here.
"We may have blown his mark for the Final however he's just a young horse and could enhance. The Pertemps Final wasn't always a strategy and there will be a lot of Irish horses coming by and we may simply need to take what we can.
"For this partnership we rather perhaps might run in the Final, but I wouldn't be thinking with the most likely excellent ground in the spring it would be our main objective - he might run it however, why not."