Gary Moore is assembling a fine squad of novice hurdlers this term and is eyeing up Kempton on Boxing Day for his taking Huntingdon winner Hansard.
The Noel Fehily Racing Club-owned gelding travelled strongly in the hands of Jamie Moore at the Cambridgeshire track on his stable debut and showed plenty of speed to quicken off the slow pace and deny the well-regarded Father Of Jazz and odds-on favourite School Days Over.
Now Moore is keen to test the four-year-old on a speed track over the Christmas period, with his proposed Kempton outing serving as an audition for sterner tasks which may lie ahead – including a return to the Sunbury venue for the Grade Two Dovecote Novices' Hurdle.
He said: "He's a horse we've always liked. It's took longer than I would have wanted to get him to the racecourse as he's had a few niggles, but he's got plenty of scope and he couldn't have done it any better than he did (at Huntingdon).
"He'll be better in a better run race where they go a bit faster. It was good ground at Huntingdon and how he would cope with a bit softer ground I don't really know. When he won his bumper it was yielding although I'm never sure what that means – but he's a nice horse.
"I like to make plans but I don't like to get carried away with them. I haven't spoke to Noel (Fehily) or David Crosse (racing manager) yet but he could go to a hurdle race at Kempton on Boxing Day. I think a speed track will suit him and then there is an obvious target after that if he's good enough which would be the Dovecote."
Also in Moore's care at the family's Cisswood Racing Stables is Givega, who is out of a sister to six-time Cheltenham Festival winner Quevega and made a real statement on hurdles debut at Lingfield.
Off the track since winning between the flags for Colin Bowe in May 2021, the trainer is keen to make up for lost time and repay the patience of owner Ashley Head, with the six-year-old son of Authorized held in the highest regard.
Moore is now considering where next to run Givega, with the gelding holding an entry for the Porsche Kennel Gate Novices' Hurdle at Ascot on Friday, but Newbury's Grade One Challow Hurdle on December 31 and an outing in calmer waters at Fontwell on Boxing Day are also possibilities.
"He's another who has taken a long time to come to himself and it's a good job he's got a patient owner," said Moore.
"He's been ready for a run for nearly two years and never got to the racecourse because of the ground or Covid or something else. He finally got out the other day and did the job and he could well go for the Challow.
"I would rather find another smaller race first, but it just depends how things work out with the weather. I'd love to give him another confidence booster and he's a horse I like a lot and he's been a very nice horse for some time now.
"Ascot is probably on the doubtful side because of the ground. He probably wants soft ground or good to soft at least. I put him in there because races are getting a bit hard to find and I thought I would see what it looks like. But he would definitely need the ground to be at least good to soft.
"The Challow would be (a realistic possibility) but it all depends where the ground is going to be softest. There's also the possibility he could go to Fontwell on Boxing Day if it was soft there.
"I've got no problems with the horse, just finding the races for him.
"He's a six-year-old now so he's got some catching up to do. He's got this very strong pedigree to die for and he's a big horse as well. He will jump a fence and he's already won a point-to-point, but he'll have a decent go over hurdles first before he goes chasing."
