Sober stakes Cheltenham claim with Moscow Flyer win

Royal Ascot hero Sober emerged as a possible Cheltenham Festival contender with a clear-cut victory in the Sky Bet Moscow Flyer Novice Hurdle at Punchestown.

The roll of honour for the Grade Two contest reads like a who’s who of Willie Mullins-trained stars, with Mikael d’Haguenet (2009), Vautour (2014), Douvan (2015) and Impaire Et Passe (2023) among the Closutton maestro’s 11 previous winners.

Each of the above went on to win at Prestbury Park two months later, with Vautour and Douvan landing the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle and Mikael d’Haguenet and Impaire Et Passe successfully stepping up in trip for what is now the Turners Novices’ Hurdle, and Sober is likely to have both options following his impressive victory.

A 9-4 chance on what was his first start since winning the Queen Alexandra Stakes at the Royal meeting last summer, the seven-year-old travelled powerfully in the slipstream of Gordon Elliott’s front-running 8-11 favourite Road Exile on the approach to the final flight and he asserted on the run-in to score by five and a half lengths.

Mullins’ assistant, David Casey, said: “He had a break after Ascot and I thought he might need a bit further, but I suppose his Flat class told and he put it to bed well. I’m very happy with what he did.

“Paul (Townend) said he quickened very well, he probably quickened a little bit more than he expected but he was delighted with him. A truer-run race would probably suit him as well and hopefully he’ll improve plenty and keep going forward.

“He’s in the two-mile race at the Dublin Racing Festival but my guess is he won’t go there as it’s too close.

“He jumped a bit sketchy at the first but after that Paul said he was good.”

Sober is a 16-1 shot with Coral for the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, while Casey suggested he could later revert to the Flat.

He added: “He could end up back at Ascot again and is owned by Australians, so he could head out there in November (for the Melbourne Cup).”