Mydaddypaddy made a winning start over obstacles and is now 7/1 favourite with the sponsors for the Sky Bet Supreme Novices' Hurdle at Cheltenham in March.
Trained by Dan Skelton and ridden by his brother Harry, the 1/2 favourite brushed aside half a dozen rivals to win division one of Carlisle's Bowel Cancer Screening Programme Saves Lives Maiden Hurdle by four and a half lengths from main market rival Harbour Island.
The four-year-old won his sole bumper start last season by 11 lengths at Huntingdon and the winning trainer revealed when speaking to Racing TV after the race that the son of Walk In The Park had always shown huge potential in his homework.
He said: "We've always liked him. Obviously he won his bumper nicely in the spring time and we looked forward to going jumping with him. I actually tried my hardest not to run him last year because he was only four. To be fair, Dermot (Hanafin) who owns him put no pressure on to run but he was itching to see him rum because our reports had been quite favourable.
"Was just so ready, he was almost naturally ready and you just couldn't hold him back. And I wouldn't say that about too many horses at all, but it was just the right thing to do.
"We're going over hurdles at an early age of four but I don't consider that to be a negative. I'd love him to be five with the spring in mind but he's obviously, very, very good and if they're good enough they're old enough.
"The best thing about him today was if you watched him beforehand, how he walked around. There was no bother on him at all, he was on a loose rein for Amber who looks after him and led him up. There's a bit of Walk In The Park in him - a bit of fire - but the more he's doing the less he pulls and everything is going the right way. It has to, because if you're going to have a really good horse then it all has to go the right way."
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While Skelton was pleased to see the horse making a winning start at the new discipline, he wouldn't have been surprised if Mydaddypaddy had taken a blow and improved a lot for the outing.
He said: "He's only as fit as they all are and some are winning, the novices, but I did explain to Dermot that he may take a blow and if he got beat then he got beat. It was class that got him through in the end, but you want to see a nice clear round so there was a little bit of pressure.
"The more I'm doing this and the owners understanding that we build into the season, rather than set the fireworks off early with the novices especially, is a very helpful position to be in. It just allows those horses that little bit of freedom to make a mistake as a novice. And if they don't win, then they won't carry a penalty straight away and they can go back in a maiden.
"With those novices, if they do improve then there are pros to it. We watch Aidan (O'Brien) do it a lot on the Flat with those good maidens, they finish third, fourth or fifth first time and step forward massively. I've just learnt a little bit to replicate those people who have gone before me and do it very well.
"You've got to have the Tolworth (now Formby Novices' Hurdle, Aintree) in mind, there's an introductory hurdle at Haydock in two weeks and he could go there. We may skip Haydock and go straight there. We'll see how his jumping is.
"I will run on soft ground but I definitely wouldn't run him on heavy, not at this stage of his life. And then we'll look to get him in the best possible shape for the spring, we'll stick to the minimum trip for as long as we can, but this horse's mother got three miles so he'll stay further."
Sky Bet's Head of Sports PR Michael Shinners said: "It's clearly very early days with the novice hurdlers this season but Mydaddypaddy looks a very exciting prospect for the Skelton team and it will be interesting to see how he progresses through the campaign."
The Skeltons also took division two, with 1/6 favourite Real Quartz scoring by three lengths from 12/1 chance Oh Clare who put up a determined fight before the winner asserted after the last, while their Carlisle treble was complete when Lune Brillante (11/4) took the concluding Nigel Hawke Raceday Experiences Mares' Open Maiden NH Flat Race.
Skelton also had a Monday winner at Kempton as the Tristan Durrell-ridden Ice In The Veins (11/4) won the JCB Hydrogen Novices' Hurdle.
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