Gavin Cromwell and JP McManus look to have a talented horse on their hands based on Punchestown performance
French recruit Espoir Dallen entered the Triumph Hurdle picture with an eye-catching first run on Irish soil . The three-year-old recruit was sent off the 11/10 favourite for the 2m contest and travelled within himself throughout before showing a smart turn of foot to pull clear of the field rounding the final turn.
Smart enough over his hurdles, jockey Barry Geraghty was motionless in the saddle throughout as his mount eased clear after the last.
Smart prospect - Espoir D'Allen is a commanding winner of our opener at @punchestownrace for @BarryJGeraghty and @gavincromwell1: pic.twitter.com/i8gCdt4gi3
— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) October 18, 2017
A 33/1 shout for the Triumph Hurdle at the Festival in March pre-race, bookmakers reacted to Wednesday’s win by cutting the JP McManus horse into as short as 16/1 (best price 25/1).
Even at this early stage of the season, Espoir Dallen joins the equally impressive Gumball in the list of promising juveniles to strut their stuff over hurdles. The Philip Hobbs-trained Gumball has two wins from two starts including a taking performance at Chepstow last time out which resulted in bookies making him the 12/1 market leader in the ante-post betting.
