29-11-2008

Alfie Flits could be worth following now that he has managed to get his head in front for the first time since he landed a listed race on the flat at Windsor in November 2006. The Machiavellian gelding’s performance in winning the two-mile novices’ hurdle at Haydock on Saturday was impressive. Perhaps the fact that he clocked a time that was three seconds faster than the time that Binocular clocked in landing the Betfair Hurdle over the same course and distance an hour earlier is a little misleading, given that AP McCoy’s arms were stretched to breaking point on the Champion Hurdle favourite, but Alfie Flits’s performance was solid. He travelled well throughout, quickened nicely between the final two flights, and was always holding the useful Font at bay. Although his trainer says that he is probably more of an Aintree horse than a Cheltenham horse, Alan Swinbank’s gelding was rated 114 on the flat after that listed race win, and he could be a leading player among the novice hurdlers this season.

© The Irish Field, 29th November, 2008