Hurricane Pat Sweeps To Sandown Success For In-form Moore Team
Gary and Josh Moore's dream spell at Sandown continued on Saturday when Hurricane Pat played himself into the Cheltenham Festival formula with a facile triumph in the opening Betfair Exchange Claremont Novices' Hurdle.
A remarkable course-and-distance scorer last month, the five-year-old was dispatched 7-2 in the Listed occasion and with Philip Hobbs and Johnson White's heavy preferred Sober Glory failing to measure up to his track record, Hurricane Pat was left to roam home to a five-and-a-half-length success over Dan Skelton's Soldier Reeves.
Josh Moore said: "He's won extremely impressively and I was rather confident when we made the entry this was the ideal race on paper.
"It was a really excellent race on paper but he did a very nice piece of work last week which sufficed to bring him here. I was believing he might desire further however the work was with the horse that won here yesterday, Macktoad, and he type of made me believe 2 miles would be for him.
"We constantly believed he might desire better ground as well, so today was a little a worry but Caoilin (Quinn, jockey) seemed to believe he was better on this ground today.
"He was a nice horse last year but he has actually reinforced up a lot over the summer and his mind has actually matured as well, he's taking whatever in his stride perfectly. He won his 2 bumpers and we've been very patient with him and he's paid his method now over obstacles."
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 start dreaming of the future.
Moore added: "He's won a Listed race so he's obviously got potential. We'll see how he comes out of today due to the fact that he is a horse we can't over race.
"You need to believe along the lines of the Supreme and whether or not that might be a bit much for him we'll learn. We can certainly gear towards that all the exact same.
"It's a pity the Tolworth isn't here and there is always Aintree (Formby Novices' Hurdle). If the Tolworth had been here we would definitely be here. He's won that so nicely though that I wouldn't remain in a rush to run once again."
Joe Tizzard's team are likewise in kind and his hot streak continued when 11-8 favourite Sunset Marquesa built on her Exeter return to tape-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 impressive and this was the right race today. She will get jacked up a couple of (pounds) and after that we'll have an excellent appearance. I was believing increasing this early morning if she goes and wins how I hope I don't have a strategy, but I will in the early morning."
Hobbs and White will continue to plot a hurdling course with Kikijo after the enhancing 9-4 joint-favourite constructed on his recent Cheltenham success with a hard-fought success in the Pertemps Network Handicap Hurdle.
Hobbs stated: "He's a bit unusual just like a horse like him you would be believing of going novice chasing next year, however he's already won a chase at Newbury last year so that is not a choice.
"I suppose having won two hurdle races he will probably run in another one. It gets more challenging now undoubtedly and after winning 2 in a row, it's not frequently they win three. But we may just need to look for another handicap obstacle somewhere on a stiff track with testing ground like here.
"We might have blown his mark for the Final however he's only a young horse and could enhance. The Pertemps Final wasn't necessarily a strategy and there will be a lot of Irish horses coming by and we might simply have to take what we can.
"For this partnership we quite perhaps could run in the Final, however I wouldn't be thinking with the likely good ground in the spring it would be our main goal - he may run it though, why not."