Thomas Darby

Thomas Darby was impressive in winning the 2m maiden hurdle. Held up early on behind a good pace, Olly Murphy's horse travelled well through his race for Richard Johnson, and his jumping was good for a debutant. He moved up in behind the leaders on the run down the hill but a mistake at the second last flight left him with lots to find on the two leaders, Elixir De Nutz and Bang On Frankie. But he picked up well on the run to the last to close the gap, and he stayed on strongly up the hill.

This was a decent maiden hurdle, there was lots of strong bumper form in the race, the pace was good and the winning time was good. This was just Thomas Darby's second race ever, he won a bumper at Huntingdon last May on his racecourse debut, and it was his first run over hurdles, so there could be lots more to come. He showed signs of greenness here, so he should do better as he gains in experience. He shapes like a talented individual.

Cheltenham, 26^th October 2018

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