Trainers Ann and Ian Hamilton eye fairytale Cheltenham Champion Hurdle bid for Tommy’s Oscar

The horse was a deeply impressive victor of the Grade Two ‘The New One’ Unibet Hurdle at Haydock on Saturday for the Hamiltons and jockey Danny McMenamin.

The Northumberland-based couple own and train just a handful of horses under permit as a hobby and have been operating at a 40 per cent strike-rate this season.

Their story, and down-to-earth manner, has captured the imagination of National Hunt racing because they’ve shown that there’s hope for small yards.

McMenamin, a former champion conditional, bided his time and made no attempt to pursue the pacesetter before making swift progress in the home straight, pulling away for a five-length success.

“It was a hard watch for a while until they turned in around the bottom corner and when Tommy’s and Danny started to stay on it got a bit easier. He’s a lovely horse and he tries his best so it’s great,” said Ann Hamilton

“The horses are well this season and next season things might go wrong, so we’ve got to have a go (at Cheltenham) I think.

“The only difference is that he seems to like flat tracks. He’s been impressive here (Haydock) and at Musselburgh and didn’t win quite as well at Doncaster. Cheltenham is very undulating but I suppose we’ve got to give it a go. I suppose if we’re going to have a go this is the year to do it when the horses are well, so we’ll see.”