Tag Archive for: Hullnback

Hullnback aiming for Aintree honours

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Fergal O’Brien believes top novice hurdler Hullnback would struggle to handle the hustle and bustle of the Cheltenham Festival.

Connections of the six-year-old have therefore decided to bypass the meeting in favour of a return to Aintree, the scene of his runner-up effort in a Grade Two bumper at the Grand National meeting last April.

Hullnback has looked a smart hurdling prospect in each of his three attempts this term, finishing runner-up to Pikar at Chepstow in October and twice winning subsequently.

His defeat of Nemean Lion at Haydock the following month was franked when Kerry Lee’s runner was placed in the Grade One Tolworth Hurdle, and having justified odds of 2-5 at Warwick with ease off a 73-day break last time, O’Brien feels the potential must be nurtured.

“We just feel that Cheltenham would absolutely blow his mind,” said the in-form Withington handler.

“He’s a lovely young horse. He had good form round Aintree last year and he ran well the other day.

“As far as we are concerned, he has his whole career ahead of him, but mentally he is not ready for Cheltenham.”

O’Brien looks set to pit his charge against top-class opposition at Aintree, planning to give him entries in both the Top Novices’ Hurdle and the Mersey Novices’ Hurdle.

He added: “The plan is to go to Aintree. He’ll be put in the two and two-and-a-half-miler. Paddy (Brennan, jockey) and the boys are favouring the two-miler. We’ll enter him in both and see which one he’d have his best chance in.

Hullnback (middle) finished behind Lookaway at Aintree
Hullnback (middle) finished behind Lookaway at Aintree (David Davies/PA)

“We just felt that, all things being equal, there were more negatives than positives to go to Cheltenham.

“He’s young and he’s so very raw it’s not true. I would love to go to Cheltenham and both his owners wanted to go to Cheltenham, but in fairness they left it to myself and Paddy.

“We just felt, to give the horse the best chance going forward, Aintree was better for him.

“We know what we’ve got. When he gets on a lorry and gets to the track, he just turns into a thug.

“We thought Cheltenham in March would be like a cauldron for him to boil over. He could have run his race by the time he got to the bottom of the chute.

“Aintree is shorter walk from the parade ring to the track and he knows it, as he’s been there last year.

“If you saw him at home, you’d think he was a little pet. He loves attention, but he definitely has a bite to him.”

Messire Des Obeaux delights connections at Warwick

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Messire Des Obeaux rolled back the years to secure his first victory since January 2021 in a pulsating renewal of the Virgin Bet Warwick Castle Handicap Chase – leg one of an Alan King double at Warwick on Saturday.

Dan Skelton’s Knight In Dubai looked to have slipped clear turning for home but King’s veteran rallied and was keeping on strongly to pull out more and edge his way in front in the dying strides.

A winner of the Grade One Challow Hurdle in his formative years and also a graded scorer over fences, this was a huge step up from the 11-year-old’s reappearance at Wincanton last month, landing the spoils by a neck at 8-1.

“He means a lot to everyone at the yard, they’ve really nursed this horse,” said Anthony Bromley, racing manager for owners Simon Munir and Isaac Souede.

“He’s a bit fragile and even before his novice chase season he’d been off the track for the best part of 1,000 days.

“He’s still got loads of enthusiasm and we still send him down early before his races, just to keep the lid on him. He loves it!

“Kingy has put a lot into this horse, so that meant a lot and it was a big win. There was around £20,000 to the winner there so that pays for around a year of training fees, so it’s a great result.

“He’s going to get hit by the handicapper now because they pulled away from the third, but you can’t plan for this horse. We’ll see how he is in the morning and plan accordingly. We tried three miles as a novice and he didn’t really ever get that, so he’s looking at two and a half miles.

“I’d say the Greatwood Gold Cup at Newbury may come a little too soon for him, but that would be the kind of race we’d look at. We don’t think Cheltenham would suit as he likes flat tracks – who knows Aintree may suit him.”

In perfect symmetry the Banbury Castle handler bookended the card when also taking the concluding Virgin Bet Open National Hunt Flat Race with 2-1 favourite Favour And Fortune.

The five-year-old son of Soldier Of Fortune scorched seven and a half lengths clear of a smart field and winning jockey Tom Cannon believes bigger things lie ahead.

He said: “That was very impressive under a penalty. He put a lot of distance between him and the other horses and it didn’t look a bad bumper on paper so he’s obviously smart and we’re probably looking at bigger and better things now.

Favour And Fortune after winning the bumper at Warwick
Favour And Fortune after winning the bumper at Warwick (PA)

“Whether that is Cheltenham or Aintree, it’s probably either or and he’s probably up to that level. He’s got a good future.”

Hullnback (2-5 favourite) may have booked his ticket to the Cheltenham Festival with an impressive nine-and-a-half-length victory in the Virgin Bet Daily Extra Places Novices’ Hurdle.

The Fergal O’Brien-trained six-year-old, who is owned by the Hull-based We’re Having A Mare (Wham) syndicate, holds entries in both the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle and Ballymore at the Festival, but assistant trainer Sally Randell is inclined to stay at two miles for the time being.

She said: “We wanted to run in a better race but we couldn’t and we needed to get him out because he’s an absolute handful.

“We just needed a run and he’s done it really impressively. Had he met the last better, he wouldn’t have missed a beat and he hardly came off the bridle.

“We’ve had to make a lot of use of him because of the races he’s been in with there not being a lot of pace but I think in a race with more pace it will make him even better.

“He wants further, but I’m not sure – I’ll have to chat with Paddy (Brennan) and Fergal about that. He’s going to want further but he’s handling two miles and he’s not even having hard races so we’ll see.”

Sheena West’s Mr Freedom (13-2) could also be Festival bound having gamely landed the Virgin Bet Daily Price Boosts Handicap Hurdle.

“He’s incredible, he’s not very big, but he did it just as well on the Flat the other day,” said West.

“He seems to like a rough race and I’m hoping he will go up enough (in the handicap) to get into the Fred Winter. He likes it the hard way. The more difficult it is the better he is, if it’s easy he loses interest.”

There was also a winner for Tom Lacey when the Jonathan Burke-ridden Imperial Alex (9-4 favourite) made a successful step up in trip in the Virgin Bet Fives Handicap Hurdle.