We Have A Dream

We Have A Dream ran a big race to finish second in the County Hurdle under a welter burden of 11st 11lb. Held up early on by Daryl Jacob, he travelled well through his race, and he moved nicely down the hill and over the second last flight. Still only about 12th as they rounded the home turn, he made good progress up the home straight toward the near side to jump the final flight in the front rank. Ch’tibello jumped the final flight just in front of him, and he couldn’t catch Dan Skelton’s horse as he powered up the hill, but he still kept on well to just beat his stable companion Countister for second place.

It was a big run by Nicky Henderson’s horse, probably a career-best. Still only five, he was an exciting juvenile hurdler last season, he won all his five races in Britain and he would have been well fancied for the Triumph Hurdle. While he had to miss Cheltenham last year, he gained compensation by winning the Grade 1 Anniversary Hurdle at Aintree. He struggled a little in the early part of this season is open graded competition, but it is often difficult for the four-going-five-year-olds in their first season in open competition, and he did progress as he matured and gained in terms of experience. Also, he did record a fairly bloodless victory in the Morebattle Hurdle at Kelso on his last run before Cheltenham. The handicapper raised him by 8lb to a mark of 160 for his County Hurdle run, which takes him back into graded races. He will be of interest if he goes to Aintree, where he put up the best performance of his juvenile season, and he could be an exciting novice chaser next season.

Cheltenham, 15^th March 2019