'The last one I had like that was Synchronised' - Jonjo O'Neill impressed by Mister Meggit's smooth hurdles debut

Jonjo and AJ O'Neill unleashed another exciting prospect when Mister Meggit was a smooth winner on his hurdle debut in the 2m4f novice contest.

The Hemmings Racing-owned six-year-old was smart in bumpers last season and warmed up through the race to win decisively under a motionless Jonjo O'Neill Jr.

"You have to be happy with that," said Jonjo snr. "It was a nice race and he jumped reasonably well. The first mile he's flat out and then he warms up and turns the turbo on.

"Hopefully, he's something to look forward to and we'll see what we do with him, but there are races like the Challow Hurdle."

Mister Meggit (far side) could be a Grade 1 horse in the making for the O'Neill teamCredit: John Grossick (racingpost.com/photos)

Mister Meggit, who won two bumpers before finishing down the field after being badly hampered at the Grand National meeting, was cut to 20-1 (from 40-1) for the Supreme Novices' Hurdle by Betfair Sportsbook.

"He's an amazing horse as he doesn't show you anything at home, but thankfully he lights up when he comes here," O'Neill added. "The last one I had like that was Synchronised and hopefully he'll follow that."

Hemmings Racing gained a double on the card with Harbour Lake, who set up a tilt at the Pertemps Final at Cheltenham in March with victory in the qualifier.

Trainer Alan King said: "We'll work back from the final and he'll probably have two runs before then as we've got a nice target.

"He's in the Haydock race [Stayers' Handicap Hurdle on November 23] but I'd imagine that would come too quick. He was much more relaxed and he doesn't mind a bit of good ground."

High praise for Saint

Imperial Saint followed up his win at last month's meeting here with another in the 2m handicap chase in colours of former multiple champion jockey Richard Johnson's syndicate. 

Imperial Saint: looked imperious at AintreeCredit: John Grossick (racingpost.com/photos)

Johnson White, who trains in partnership with Johnson's ex-boss Philip Hobbs, said: "He's a lovely horse to train and it's onwards and upwards. He's always schooled very well. He travels very well over two miles and I'm sure he'll improve again over further, when we need to go further."

Johnson added: "He was our first runner as a syndicate and he's been great for all of us. It was always the plan to have a horse with Philip and Johnson, but I didn't really expect to have a Saturday horse to give our owners so much fun."  

Curtis's big-race ambitions

Rebecca Curtis is predicting a bright future for novice handicap chase winner Haiti Couleurs, who has the Cheltenham Festival on his radar.

Haiti Couleurs: on his way to victory in the novice handicap chaseCredit: John Grossick (racingpost.com/photos)

"He's a nice horse who's very versatile on the ground and I'd hope he'd be a Welsh National type for next season," the trainer said. "It's nice they've changed the National Hunt Chase to a handicap, so maybe we'll look at something like that in the spring."

Curtis, who won the National Hunt Chase with Teaforthree in 2012, put the gloss on an excellent afternoon when Cedar Creek won the bumper under Sean Bowen, who completed a 100-1 treble following earlier victories on Haiti Couleurs and Deploy To Spy.

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