Tellherthename impressed with a wide margin success in the Arkle Finance EBF “National Hunt” Novices’ Hurdle at Huntingdon on Friday.
Trained by Ben Pauling, the five-year-old had shaped like a Graded hurdler in the making when taking a similar event at the track in late November. Despite market support, he was pulled up subsequently in the Grade 1 Tolworth Hurdle at Aintree on Boxing Day, having lost his action before the third-last flight.
The return to Huntingdon appeared to spark the gelding back to his best, with jockey Kielan Woods able to make all and take the prize by fourteen lengths. After the race, Pauling said: "We are back on track. We turned a lot of stones to try and find out what happened at Aintree. We found a few little bits and bobs, but nothing that put us out for that long as you could see.
"I was just keen to get his season back on track before we dwelt on it for too long. The ground there was soft enough, and it is not the good to soft that they have advertised, but he has handled it very well. He is an unbelievably class horse.
"That now gives him his fourth run so he has got the option of the Betfair Hurdle, but the ground would have to be spot on for that otherwise we will go straight to the Supreme with him.
"I think he is a class horse with gears galore and I sometimes think they are best fresh. They go such a gallop in that race (Supreme) and if you are anything but absolutely ready for the day then you might get flat footed."
Elsewhere on the card, trainer Paul Nicholls unveiled another exciting juvenile hurdler in Kabral Du Mathan, who was a comfortable victor of the Weatherbys Chatteris Fen Juvenile Hurdle on UK debut. Formerly trained in France, the gelding overcame an eight pound penalty to take the contest by a length-and-a-half from Latin Verse and Kartoon And Co.
"It was a very pleasing performance. He has done everything nicely in Ditcheat," said Charlie Davies, assistant trainer to Nicholls.
"When they come over from France you don't know what to expect, and we were very nervous about having to give all of these eight pounds.
"He has jumped brilliantly, done it all very professionally, and I think he has done it quite cosily. Hopefully he might be one for the Fred Winter in March.
"I think he is more a Fred Winter horse as to be a Triumph Hurdle horse you have got to be a really good horse, and you would have to take on Burdett Road, and Sir Gino looked very smart the other day.
"I think we will go the Fred Winter route for the time being. He has got to have one more run and maybe we will run him in a decent race and see how good he is.
"You couldn't be more pleased with how it went as he travelled and jumped brilliantly. It was a very taking debut given them all eight pounds."
