Olly Murphy hailed Fingle Bridge as a horse with a "brilliant engine" after setting up a step into the big league at Aintree when scooping the most significant victory of his career in the trustatrader.com Novices’ Hurdle at Exeter.
The lightly raced seven year old was not for passing under Sean Bowen after making it four wins from just five career starts on his first attempt at Listed level in what looked a competitive renewal of the extended two mile test.
Racing front rank throughout with odds-on favourite Regent’s Stroll the 7/1 chance always looked to have matters in hand as his rivals gradually wilted one-by-one during the closing stages of the race.
Although Regent’s Stroll still held every chance between the last two hurdles he could not quite find the gears to match the eventual winner as the pair crossed the final flight with Bowen moving his mount into a lead he would not surrender. And once hitting the front, Fingle Bridge found plenty for pressure with Bowen pushing the Flemensfirth gelding out to score by two lengths.
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Murphy, speaking away from the track, said: “He is a horse that has had a bit of time off and we have had to go slowly with him, but he is a horse with a brilliant engine.
“We think an awful lot of him and this has been the plan for a while with him. I was wondering whether to run him today, but the owners wanted to have a go as did Sean. We always thought he was a black type of horse, but there is still a lot of improvement to come as he was a bit green today. He has got a fantastic attitude which always helps."
Although Fingle Bridge holds an entry in the Turners Novices’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival, the Wilmcote handler hinted that an outing in the Mersey Novices’ Hurdle at Aintree is a more likely target.
Murphy added: “He is a horse that has got lots of ability, but I think he is a horse that will be better suited to Aintree and we will look at one of the good races up there. He stayed on well today and I would suspect we would look at going up in trip with him.
“I’d say we might try and get another run into him before Aintree just to give him that bit more experience, but I’m chuffed to bits what he has done today.”
While it was a second defeat in succession for Regent’s Stroll, who finished fourth in the Challow Hurdle last time out, his trainer Paul Nicholls believed there were positives to take from the display.
Nicholls said: “He settled better, but he still mucked about at the start. He might just have come up against a good one. He probably wants a bit further. The horse has run well, but he hasn’t won. Everyone expects so much because he has that price tag.
“I just don’t think we have quite got where we need to with him. What we do from here I don’t know. When he settles he probably wants two and a half miles. We'll find a race for him in the spring and then go chasing next season.”
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