Hermes Allen lived up to his reputation in winning the Grade One Coral Challow Novices' Hurdle at Newbury, completing a hat-trick in the race for Paul Nicholls.
Expectations were high following two impressive performances by the French import and with Nicholls having saddled Stage Star and Bravemansgame to win the previous two renewals and 11/10 favourite Hermes Allen didn't disappoint.
The two and a half mile contest was turned into a proper test with Hermes Allen winning in a time around six seconds faster than the handicap over the same distance earlier on the card.
That was in no small part to Vicki Vale who opened up by four or five lengths down the back straight and again as she led the field on the turn for home. At no stage did Harry Cobden appear to panic aboard the winner and he had closed right up on the leader when sticking to the inside of the final turn.
Hermes Allen cruised into the lead and Cobden only needed to shake the reins at the five-year-old to keep him up to his work.
The pair finished a long way clear of You Wear It Well who completed a good day for Value Bet in finishing second having been advised each-way at 25/1.
Betfair Sportsbook cut Hermes Allen to 5/1 joint-favourite (from 9s) for the Ballymore Novices' Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival in March. Sky Bet are a point shorter at 4/1 and also trimmed the winner for the Albert Bartlett Novices' Hurdle, going 8/1 from 20s.
Cobden was suitably impressed with Hermes Allen, who he partnered for the first time when combining to win the Ballymore Novices' Hurdle at Cheltenham in November and the race of the same name could be on the agenda back at Prestbury Park in March.
"He'll probably stay further and he would probably win over two; the race we'd be leaning towards is probably the Ballymore," he said.
"He's not the most imposing horse, he's quite small but he's got a hell of a heart on him and he wants it and he's obviously got loads of ability. He's very quick and slick. If you rode him at home, you'd say he should be rated about 100, he's got no feel at all but you school him or do anything a bit faster, that's when you really get a feel off him.
"Very straightforward, easy going horse. He's got a bloody good engine on him. That horse, it was so easy for him. At every stage of the race he was absolutely cantering. I've never ridden such an easy Grade One winner."
Nicholls, winning the race for a fifth time in all – including with Denman in 2006 – was not on course as he was celebrating his landlord Paul Barber’s 80th birthday.
Speaking from Ditcheat he said: “I’m obviously thrilled with that.
“I was worried about the ground and the lads asked me what I wanted to do and I just said we didn’t know that he didn’t go on it so we had to kick on. As Harry said afterwards good horses go on any ground, he’s now won on quick ground and that ground.
“He’s not slow. He had been slow at home, but he’s waking up mentally and physically. He’s got it all really, he’s got everything you want in a good horse.”
Hermes Allen cost £350,000 after winning an Irish point in November 2021, but did not make his debut for Nicholls until October at Stratford.
“I promise you, the reason we went to Stratford first time out is because he’d shown us absolutely nothing at home,” said Nicholls.
“I thought it could have been embarrassing, but then he went and bolted in. That’s often the way with backward horses. We wanted to run him in the spring after we bought him, but he was so backward I didn’t want to embarrass anyone. I just kept saying we had to wait and now he’s maturing. Time never does these good horses any harm.
“I suspect we’ll go straight to Cheltenham now. There’s no real need to run him again, but the only option is the trial race in a month and then you have a nice gap until the Festival or you just go straight there. We’ll all have a chat.
“I don’t want to go to the well too often as he’ll have had a hard race on that ground today.”
He is now as short as 3/1 favourite for the Ballymore.
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