'A nice horse with a big future' - The Yellow Clay favourite for Albert Bartlett after serene Navan win

The Yellow Clay was installed as the new favourite for the Albert Bartlett Novices' Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival after impressively making it two out of two over hurdles in the Grade 3 Monksfield at Navan.

The five-year-old, trained by Gordon Elliott, was cut to 12-1 (from 16) by Paddy Power for the three-mile Grade 1 next March and was also shortened to 16-1 (from 25) for the Turners Novices' Hurdle, which was last year run as the Gallagher when won by Ballyburn.

Dropping back two furlongs in trip having won his maiden hurdle over 2m6½f at Down Royal two weeks ago proved no problem for the imposing son of Yeats, and it might even have led to some improvement.

A slight mistake two-out was the only hiccup, but he was soon back on the bridle and drew clear in good style under Jack Kennedy after the last. The ten-length winning margin over front-running Where's My Jet was a good measure of his superiority.

Elliott, who was winning this race for a ninth time, said: "Jack said he was very laid-back and he will even have learned from that. What I loved was the way he was quickly back on the bridle when he made a mistake at the second-last. 

"He's a nice horse with a big future. That was a good performance. I would imagine we will go for the Grade 1 Lawlor's of Naas Novice Hurdle in January. He has a great attitude and a great way of racing."

Turners Novices' Hurdle, March 12
Paddy Power: 8 Jasmin De Vaux, 12 Romeo Coolio, 14 Jalon D'Oudairies, Potters Charm, 16 Kopek Des Bordes, The Yellow Clay, 20 bar

Albert Bartlett Novices' Hurdle, March 14
Coral: 12 The Yellow Clay, 16 Jalon D'Oudairies, Potters Charm, Romeo Coolio, 25 Ballygunner Castle, Kingston Pride, Mister Meggit, Regent's Stroll, Sounds Victories, 33 bar

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