Salver serves up strong staying performance at Sandown

Salver passed his stamina test with flying colours in the Betfair Esher Novices’ Chase at Sandown, the second of three winners on the card for the father-son training partnership of Gary and Josh Moore and jockey Caoilin Quinn.

Winner of his first four starts over hurdles two seasons ago, Salver failed to add to his tally last term but did run well in defeat on a few occasions and also performed creditably when third behind Lulamba on his debut over fences at Exeter last month.

He was stepped up from two miles and a furlong to three miles for this Grade Two contest and after being held up off the strong pace set by the bold-jumping Doyen Quest for much of the way, he arrived on the scene travelling strongly at the top of the home straight and pulled 12 lengths clear with relative ease.

“I didn’t think he’d stay, I thought he might have too much poke (pace),” Gary Moore told Racing TV.

“If you look at his form he’s been running round behind top-class hurdlers, but fair play to Keith (Graves, owner), he wanted to try (three miles) and I thought if he stayed round here, he’d stay round anywhere.

“That is why we rode him like we did and dropped him out and took our time. The horse in front jumped a lot better than us on the first circuit, but it surprised me how well he jumped on the second circuit.

“I’d been looking at two-and-half to two-mile-six races, but Caoilin has got off and said he stays all day.

“He’s always been an incredible horse. He had a good three/four-year-old career and the four/five-year-old season is tough, but today he has put it right.”

Macktoad is likely to head down the Triumph Hurdle route following an impressive British debut for the team in the Daily Tips On Betting.Betfair “Introductory” Juvenile Hurdle.

The French bumper winner was a 3-1 joint-favourite for a race the Moores won in 2019 with Goshen, who memorably had the Triumph Hurdle at his mercy the following spring before crashing out at the final obstacle.

Macktoad will have a few tests to pass in the meantime, with Finale Hurdle at Chepstow over Christmas a possible next port of call, but he was not hard-pressed to win this event by three and a quarter lengths and Coral make him a 16-1 shot from 66-1 for the juvenile championship at the Cheltenham Festival in March.

Former jockey Josh Moore said: “He impressed me there. I’ve ridden the horse a lot and I’ve even schooled him, and I shouldn’t school, but he’s one of those horses that jumps well enough you can kind of trust him.

“We’ve never got to the bottom of him and he’s not flashy, but he does everything in second gear the whole time.

“He’s controlled that race today from the front and coped with conditions, but he’s a good mover so I’d like to think he’ll cope with better ground as well.

“It (Chepstow) is quite soon for the horse and he is only a three-year-old, but it’s an option you’ve got to consider.”

The treble was completed by 3-1 shot Across Earth in the Betfair Racing Podcasts ‘Four Years Old’ Handicap Hurdle

Keep Running lived up to his name with a facile front-running victory in the Best Odds On The Betfair Exchange Handicap Chase.

A well-supported 11-8 favourite after a second-placed finish over hurdles at Fontwell on his seasonal debut four weeks ago, the Warren Greatrex-trained gelding jumped superbly in the hands of James Bowen and came home with 18 lengths in hand.

Welcom To Cartries (10-1) edged out New Order by a head to claim top honours in the Bet At Your Best With Betfair Handicap Chase, completing a double on the card for Paul Nicholls and Harry Cobden following the earlier success of the exciting No Drama This End.