'It will be right up his street' - Harry Cobden excited for Brown Advisory bid after Stay Away Fay cut to 5-1 favourite

Stay Away Fay arrived with a burgeoning reputation as a staying chaser to follow and did nothing to harm it when powering up the Sandown hill to extend his unbeaten record over fences in the Grade 2 Betfair Esher Novices' Chase.

Champion trainer Paul Nicholls described the six-year-old as a "proper horse" after watching him outstay Giovinco in attritional conditions, a performance that led to him becoming the new favourite for the Brown Advisory Novices' Chase at the Cheltenham Festival.

"It's hard when you have to make the running like that but he digs deep, stays well and gallops – he's a proper horse," said Nicholls, who has seen his fair share of top-class performers. "He doesn't do a whole lot in front but I knew when they jumped the last together that he'd gallop to the line.

"You're a sitting duck when you have to do the donkey work like that but he stayed on strongly. The better the race, the better he'll be. A true gallop should help him."

Stay Away Fay, who landed the Albert Bartlett at 18-1 in March, was cut to 5-1 favourite (from 7) by Betfair for the Brown Advisory. He was shortened to 12-1 (from 14) for the National Hunt Chase over a longer trip but Nicholls was quick to rule out the Grade 2.

Stay Away Fay clears a fence on the way to a second novice chase successCredit: Mark Cranham

It was not completely smooth sailing for the winner on his second start in his novice chase campaign. The Changing Man unseated Brendan Powell, who came agonisingly close to staying on board, at the 17th fence and the loose horse appeared intent on making things as difficult as possible for the front two.

"He'd definitely jump slicker and quicker in behind," said jockey Harry Cobden. "He was a bit up in the air there as he had so much time when he got to his obstacles. There should be a lot of improvement to come from him.

"It was a good rattle over the last three fences, both horses jumped them well and were very tough. We just outstayed him. He's a proper hardened horse. The Brown Advisory would be right up his street as they go a good old gallop."

Stay Away Fay is likely to have one more run before returning to the festival. The Cotswold Chase, out of novice company, and Reynoldstown are under consideration. Chris Giles, who owns the winner alongside Dave Staddon, said they can now dream of him becoming a Gold Cup horse.

"The runner-up seems like a very good horse, so this is a nice one to win," said Giles. "He has plenty of stamina. You wouldn't be scared to go straight to Cheltenham but we'll leave that up to Paul. We're really excited about what he can do."

Read more . . .

'I knew we could make it work' - how Henrietta Knight found her new right-hand man 

'Nothing will stay better than him' - why this horse can win at Sandown or Aintree on Saturday 

Get set for the jumps! Join Members' Club now with 50% off 

Sign up to receive On The Nose, our essential daily newsletter, from the Racing Post. Your unmissable morning feed, direct to your email inbox every morning.