The Paul Nolan trained Latest Exhibition landed his first Grade One at the Dublin Racing Festival when seeing off a superbly talented field of runners and now his handler has dreams of Cheltenham in the Albert Bartlett Novices Hurdle.
The seven year old has really had a break through season over hurdles landing three out of his four contests to date seeing off some of the best novices of the term including Andy Dufresne, Fury Road and Longhouse Poet.
The only horse to beat him this season was when he was tried at two miles which showed that he was a stayer and not a pace merchant and he was outclassed by the Gordon Elliott trained Abacadabras who is seeking for favouritism in the Supreme Novices Hurdle.
His win in the Grade One Novice Hurdle on Saturday saw him tackle his furthest trip over two and three-quarter miles and proved to bring the best out of him with concerns also before the race that he needs the ground very soft but it was only Yielding and he prevailed well.
(Credit At The Races) “We’re pleased with how he’s come out of the race,” said Nolan.
“He’s been in the paddock for a couple of days and looks fresh and well.
“That would have been the quickest ground he’s encountered so far – which answered another question – and we were very pleased with how he knuckled down.
🇮🇪 What a start to the Dublin Racing Festival!
— Racing TV (@RacingTV) February 1, 2020
🏆 A big victory for @nolan_racing & @92bryan92 as Latest Exhibition digs deep to land the opening G1 on the card @LeopardstownRC to make it 3-4 over hurdles this season!
Results ➡ https://t.co/glajGV55GR pic.twitter.com/7cdgqXKCzL
“He made a couple of small mistakes – but you couldn’t say his jumping wasn’t good, so he’s learning all the time.”
Talking about his stable stars aim at the Cheltenham festival he added: “At this stage, I’d expect it would be the Albert Bartlett,” he said.“You can never rule anything out – but I’d say it’s 99 per cent sure it will be the Albert Bartlett.
”Latest Exhibition’s latest success indicated stamina is not lacking.
“It looked like being a three-way battle – but in fairness to him he pulled away and won by two lengths, and in another furlong it looked like he’d have won even further,” added his trainer.
“Maybe he wouldn’t (have) – he’s a horse who just does enough really.
“(But) the Albert Bartlett tends to be won by horses he race behind the bridle, not the flashier type. It didn’t do (subsequent Cheltenham Gold Cup winner) Bobs Worth any harm, winning the Albert Bartlett.
“I wouldn’t have thought the ground will be as quick at Cheltenham as it was on Saturday.
“Leopardstown is level – so we were happy for him to take his chance – but because Cheltenham is undulating, they always make sure it is very safe.
“There’s no point complicating things – unless it was bottomless ground, I think we’ll be heading for the Albert Bartlett, but we’ll keep options open just in case.”
Latest Exhibition before that race and his trainers comments was 12/1 to land the Albert Bartlett but can now be taken at 6/1 being halved in price.