Tom Dascombe described a fourth-placed finish for Hot Fuss in the Fred Winter at the Cheltenham Festival as “blinding” as he plots Chester Cup glory with the versatile bay.
The four-year-old was making only his fourth start over hurdles at Prestbury Park, where he looked set to claim the runner-up spot in the Grade Two race behind clear winner Puturhandstogether before being pushed down a couple of spots in the final strides by Robbies Rock and Liam Swagger.
He made his debut over obstacles in October, finishing second behind East India Dock, before shedding his National Hunt maiden tag at Sandown in December.
The son of Calyx then came fourth in the Grade Two Coral Finale Juvenile Hurdle, only to return to the Flat on the all-weather at Southwell last month to win by three-and-a-quarter lengths.
Hot Fuss switched back to hurdling for Cheltenham and creditably claimed minor honours in the 22-runner contest over an extended two miles.
A return to Turf is next on the agenda, with Dascombe hoping for preferred soft ground at the Roodee before another crack at hurdling for the winter.
“He’s fine, he’s in good shape. He’s not done much since, to be honest,” the Uplands Stables handler said. “We wouldn’t have beaten the winner whatever we would’ve done, obviously that’s better handicapped than us.
“I thought that David Bass gave him a lovely ride, he jumped the third-last so well he had to sort of go on. If we counted to four or five and held on to him for a few more strides, we would have finished second.
“But he did everything right, ran a blinding race and the owners were absolutely over the moon, and that’s what it’s all about.
“The plan is that he needs to have soft ground and the other plan is that he has never had a break since he was broken in when we bought him at the breeze ups – he ran as a two-year-old, ran as a three-year-old and ran as a four-year-old.
“The plan is probably to go for the Chester Cup, then he will have the rest of May, June and July off, and then bring him back in September to go back over hurdles. He doesn’t want summer Flat racing.”