The David Pipe trained Main Fact could be seen again next month, this time at Ascot in the Grade One Marsh Hurdle, with the superstar yardstick looking to land 10 consecutive wins for his trainer.
The training performance from the Pipe team has been tremendous with the seven year old staying on from a horrible position to land the Grade Three Stayers' Handicap Hurdle.
The gelding had been running on both the flat and over hurdles and having up 15lb for this run, many thought that it would be impossible for him to win.
However, with the heavy ground coming it saw off the challenge of some of the more prominent runners in the market and left Main Fact to power up the straight to victory.
This saw him land nine straight races in a row having been superb on both the flat and over hurdles this term and now, Pipe is dreaming big with his stable star.
The Grade One Long Walk Hurdle at Ascot is the logical next step for the stayer and if he goes on to perform well at that level then a tilt at the Stayers' Hurdle at the Cheltenham festival could be in the pipeline.
Main Fact's record since 7th December last year...
— The Winners Enclosure (@TWEnclosure) November 22, 2020
🐎 Six runs over hurdles
🏆 Six wins
🐎 Three runs on the flat
🏆 Three wins
He made it NINE wins on the bounce at Haydock yesterday 😲
🤔 The most in form horse in training?!
📹 @RacingTV pic.twitter.com/AQPleGZp4V
(Credit ATR) Pipe said: “He’s come out of the race well, and I think we’ll give him an entry in the Long Walk at Ascot. It closes next week, so we’ll stick him in and see what happens.
“The handicapper has put him up 7lb, so he’s rated 154 now and hasn’t got too many options.
“We’ve still got a long way to go to be in the same category as the likes of Paisley Park (rated 167) – but at the same time, everyone involved is living the dream.”
Pipe believes that Main Fact could be one of the best horses he has trained during his career and back in 2018 he only bought him for just £6,000.
He added: “We’ve spoken about it since Saturday and we don’t think we’ve ever had one win nine in a row before. My father had one or two horses win eight, but not nine, so it’s nice to beat him at something!
“I’m not sure how I managed to get him beaten off 98 at Exeter last year! It reminds me of Celestial Gold, who won the Paddy Power Gold Cup and the Hennessy (in 2004) – I managed to get him beaten in a point-to-point before he won his next three!
“When we bought him (Main Fact) we thought he’d be a good, fun horse for a syndicate – and the price was right. He had some form in the book and was bred by Juddmonte.
“We obviously never dreamed he was going to do this. It’s great for everyone involved and great for racing, as it shows everyone has a chance.”