Cyrname owner De La Hey looking to cash in again with Adrien Du Pont

There's never a good time to be under the weather, but it will take more than a bout of flu (not that kind!) to knock the spring out of Johnny de la Hey's step.

"I've got a bit of a cold, but I'll take that for Cyrname's performance last Saturday," says De La Hey, who has one of the leading fancies for this weekend's big race, the 888Sport Handicap Chase, in Adrien Du Pont.

It falls seven days after the demolition job Cyrname dished out to his rivals in the Ascot Chase, a performance that elevated him to a BHA mark of 178, meaning De La Hey owns the highest-rated horse in training.

It is a rating 3lb superior to Altior, and one Best Mate, Azertyuiop or Douvan failed to scale. The journey to that summit has not been straightforward though.

"It's a massive thrill and pretty surprising given where we were a couple of months back and certainly where we were two years ago," reflects the owner, whose pride and joy – harnessed by ten-time champion trainer Paul Nicholls, groom and work-rider Scott Marshall and the rest of Team Ditcheat – has gone from tearaway to tearing it up.

"When Paul first got him he seemed to be pretty much untrainable and you could never get hold of him."

Replay: Ascot Chase

The De La Hey family's pink and blue hooped silks aren't as famous as, say, the green and gold of JP McManus, but Cyrname's exploits have shone the spotlight on them this season, around a decade after they first became involved in the sport.

"I've always loved racing and my wife's Samantha's dad Stuart Pattemore, who sadly passed away, used to train a few down in Somerset," adds De La Hey.

"The reason we ended up at Paul's was he used to ride for Stuart. Then we bought an unremarkable horse ten years or so ago from Paul's before slowly building it up."

Adrien Du Pont (in front) heads for the race that used to be known as the Racing Post ChaseCredit: Edward Whitaker

It has been built up to a remarkable horse in Cyrname, whose emergence has helped cement his owners' love affair with their local track, enjoying four victories at Ascot this season.

The focus of their attention on Saturday comes 20 miles away via the M3 at Kempton, where Adrien Du Pont is a lively contender for the £100,000 888Sport Handicap Chase.

"We haven't had a ton of winners this season, but we've had some really good ones at the weekends and four at Ascot – Favorito Buck's, Darling Maltaix and Cyrname twice – which is very nice," says the 47-year-old finance industry worker.

"Adrien Du Pont is in the top two or three in the betting and won at Kempton over Christmas. He looks like an improving horse as well, and he's been difficult the last couple of years.

"I'm not sure he'll turn into Cyrname, but he could be a nice improver even though he's quite high in the handicap. It's pretty exciting when you've got live prospects."

Even more thrilling if you have one for another three-mile chase at Kempton.

Cyrname: improving chaser rated 3lb higher than AltiorCredit: Edward Whitaker

"When Cyrname won at Kempton last season there was talk of the King George, but where we started this term we had to give it up, but given what he's done now it's the most obvious place to go, top of the list," he says.

"If he ran well there, this time next year Cheltenham could come into the equation."

Put to De La Hey that the son of Nickname produced a performance bettered by only seven chasers since 2000, he replies: "Saturday was fantastic. There's been a lot talked about it and rightly so because it was very special. He's the best horse I've owned, and that most people would have owned!

"It's a pretty special list [in front of him] and I don't disagree with the handicapper – I quite often do – but that's what he had to put down from that run. I'd like to see if we can go out and justify it, but from the way he ran there's no reason he couldn't."

Before that, there's the small matter of Adrien Du Pont taking aim at another prize not to be sniffed at – flu or no flu.

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