A red-hot Champion Hurdle is in prospect - but could the weekend have also unearthed a 40-1 dark horse?

A Champion Hurdle dark horse?

Sir Gino leapt into the Champion Hurdle picture with an authoritative eight-length success in the BetMGM Fighting Fifth Hurdle at Newcastle on Saturday. Yet that form looks open to question after Mystical Power failed to give his running, while runner-up Lump Sum had beaten just one rival home on his previous start in Grade 1 company and third-placed Kihavah was beaten off a mark of 127 at Market Rasen in July.

The Grade 3 WillowWarm Hurdle took place at Fairyhouse earlier in the day and produced an equally impressive winner in Anzadam.

Anzadam: another smart hurdler for owners Joe and Marie DonnellyCredit: Patrick McCann

The son of Authorized was a perfect two from two in France and went off the 5-2 joint-second favourite on his debut for Willie Mullins.

Wearing the Sir Gino silks of owners Joe and Marie Donnelly, Anzadam raced keenly in a hood but that did not stop him from easing past his rivals approaching the last and pulling clear on the run-in for a six-and-a-half-length success.

The form looks respectable and he took plenty of time to pull up afterwards so the early indications are that we could be looking at a Grade 1 performer. 

Paddy Power introduced him at 40-1 for the Champion Hurdle following the victory and those odds look a touch generous given he has significant scope for improvement, albeit both owners and trainer are overloaded with some top-notch two-mile hurdlers.
Joe Eccles

Regent's Stroll hints at very promising future

After only four winners in October, Paul Nicholls came back swinging with a vengeance last month. 

The 14-time champion trainer set a new personal record for prize-money accrued in November as Kandoo Kid's emphatic victory in the Coral Gold Cup pushed him past £679,000 earned in the last 30 days.

Dreams of Aintree are now alive for Kandoo Kid, and the trainer will also rightly have high hopes for Regent's Stroll after his successful hurdles debut on Friday.

Regent's Stroll: cost a record £660,000 when sold at Goffs in JulyCredit: Edward Whitaker

Six months after making headlines when becoming the most expensive jumps horse ever purchased, all eyes were on Regent's Stroll at Newbury, and while only time will tell how strong that form is, what was most pleasing was the way the strapping five-year-old reacted to a shuddering mistake at the second-last. 

That error would have ended the chances of many horses, but within a few strides Regent's Stroll was back on the bridle and cantering away again from his opposition on the run to the last, which he jumped much cleaner. That hints at not only a great engine underneath but also a willing attitude. 

There is plenty to work on and he may be one who falls into the cliched bracket of anything achieved over hurdles being a bonus before going chasing, but his future certainly looks bright with staying trips likely to suit.

Derham a target trainer to follow

A day after his uncle and former boss Paul Nicholls won the Coral Gold Cup, Harry Derham landed a similarly valuable prize when Washington provided him with a first winner in Ireland.

Washington made a successful stable debut for Derham at Chepstow in October, 337 days after he was pulled up on his only start for Nicholls. 

The fact Derham had the confidence to successfully pitch the eight-year-old into a €100,000 Listed handicap hurdle at Fairyhouse on just his second start for the yard is some feat for a trainer who has been operating for less than two years.

The Greatwood Hurdle was the more obvious option, but Derham correctly predicted there would be a weaker field at Fairyhouse where Washington received weight from all but two of his 12 rivals.

Derham’s creative campaigning is undoubtedly influenced by his six years spent assisting Nicholls, whose impeccable knowledge of the programme book has helped him be champion trainer 14 times. 

There were some testing moments for Derham last month, including when €320,000 buy Imagine was pulled up in the Paddy Power Gold Cup, which came after Listed bumper second Noahsgreatrainbow had finished last of eight having bled when sent off the 15-8 favourite for his hurdles debut at Sandown.

However, Washington and Queens Gamble, who finished an excellent second in the Gerry Feilden at Newbury on Saturday, are a timely reminder that Derham is a target trainer to follow.

Latest Jockeys’ Cup standings 

Sam Twiston-Davies 72
Sean Bowen 70
Harry Cobden 70
Harry Skelton 66
Nico de Boinville 58

British jump jockeys’ ­championship standings

Sean Bowen 97 wins
Harry Skelton 86
Sam Twiston-Davies 66
Harry Cobden 53
Gavin Sheehan 52

British jumps trainers’ ­championship standings

Dan Skelton £1,250,100
Paul Nicholls £953,552
Olly Murphy £645,224
Nigel Twiston-Davies £623,531
Fergal O’Brien £503,148

Irish jump ­jockeys’ ­championship standings

Darragh O’Keeffe 47 wins
Paul Townend 41
Sam Ewing 41
Keith Donoghue 39
Jack Kennedy 34

Irish jumps trainers’ ­championship standings

Gordon Elliott €1,961,090
Willie Mullins €1,376,095
Henry de Bromhead €864,965
Gavin Cromwell €788,300
Joseph O’Brien €501,260

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Lossiemouth 6-4 for Champion Hurdle after delivering monstrous performance to swat aside Teahupoo in Hatton's Grace 

'You couldn't ask for a better start' - Caldwell Potter caps memorable weekend for Paul Nicholls 

Nicky Henderson in major conundrum after Sir Gino shakes up Champion Hurdle picture with Fighting Fifth romp 

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