Successful duo show they could be worthy champions

After Peddlers Cross and Overturn prevailed in a frantic two-and-a-half hours on Saturday that saw Maguire fly from Bangor to Newcastle, juvenile hurdle Hollow Tree put down an impressive marker of his own with a 12-length victory at Ffos Las yesterday.

Always to the fore, the 1-10 odds-on chance only needed to be pushed out to score by Maguire to land the win with the minimum of fuss.

“It’s not easy out there for an ex-Flat horse, it’s very testing down the back,” said the winning jockey who only returned to the saddle from a serious neck injury 10 days ago.

“It’s very hard for them to get out of it but he jumped well and the further he went, the better he was. He’ll appreciate a step up in trip.”

Hollow Tree is a general 20-1 chance for the Triumph Hurdle at the National Hunt Festival next March as McCain and Maguire, jump racing’s emerging force and potential long-term challengers to Paul Nicholls and Ruby Walsh, look to add to their big race record following the victory of Ballabriggs in this year’s Grand National.

Yet the in-form combination’s Cheltenham hopes and dreams will, inevitably, revolve around the Tim Leslie-owned pair of Peddlers Cross and Overturn who continue to capture the imagination of National Hunt devotees.

Having now won two novice chases at Bangor with proficient jumping, McCain – whose father Ginger, the record-breaking Grand National trainer, passed away recently – has been under pressure to run Peddlers Cross in the Queen Mother Champion Chase at Cheltenham, the blue riband race for two-milers. The six-year-old is that highly regarded.

However, the trainer says the Arkle Trophy, the supreme test for two-mile novice chasers, remains the ultimate target and that Peddlers Cross will reappear at Haydock’s pre-Christmas meeting on December 17.

“He’s still young and if I do my job properly there are still several years to have a go at the Champion Chase,” explained McCain. “Nowhere along the line do we need to find out how good he is because we know how good he is. I can’t believe he’ll run in anything but the Arkle.

“The natural progression is to go through a novice season and step up the next season and he’ll still be going to Cheltenham with a maximum of four runs over fences under his belt. I’m always inclined to keep novices to novice races where I can.”

Meanwhile, Overturn could have another crack at the Champion Hurdle after making turf history at Newcastle on Saturday.

The seven-year-old – a beaten favourite in the 2010 Ebor at York – became the first Northumberland Plate winner to go on to land the Fighting Fifth Hurdle, outbattling the disappointing former champion Binocular. Not even Peter Easterby’s brilliant dual-purpose horse Sea Pigeon pulled off this feat.

McCain knows what it takes to win a Champion Hurdle – the aforementioned Peddlers Cross was second to Binocular in this year’s renewal while the pacesetting Overturn faltered.

“It was absolutely fantastic. When you think he can’t do it anymore, he goes and does it again. He’s a wonderful horse to have,” reflected McCain who dismissed concerns that the horse’s front-running tactics make him a sitting target.

“He’s as tough as nails and you wouldn’t know he’d had a race. When you’re talking about Sea Pigeon and those sort of horses, it’s a huge feather in his cap to win those two races. He won’t be running for a while. I’d have thought we’d go back for the Champion Hurdle as he does seem to have improved again this time.”

McCain also confirmed that his Charlie Hall winner Weird Al will miss Kempton’s King George Chase on Boxing Day – the Cheltenham Gold Cup or Aintree’s Totesport Bowl remain long-term targets. It comes after the horse trailed Kauto Star and Long Run in the Betfair Chase 10 days ago.

“That proved we can compete at that level and it also proved he’s a better horse fresh, so he’ll have a good long break and come back for the Spring,” added the trainer as he looked forward, with optimism, to more days in the limelight.