Huntingdon hero Sixmilebridge remains in Festival reckoning

kept alive hopes of appearing at the Cheltenham Festival when staying on strongly from the front to justify odds of 2-5 in the Annual Badges On Sale Now Novices’ Hurdle at .

Fellow recent scorer Land Afar gave the market leader a decent workout but a slick leap at the last flight helped Kielan Woods and Sixmilebridge to pull four lengths clear.

Now trained by Fergal O’Brien after featuring in the Champion Bumper for Ben Pauling last term, the six-year-old stayed unchanged at 66-1 with Paddy Power for the Turners Novices’ Hurdle at Cheltenham.

O’Brien told Racing TV: “He’s turned up and he’s done the job, so he’s 2-1-1 for us now. He’s a lovely horse, he’s a very exciting horse for the future and I’m delighted to have him.

“I think we’ll go to Cheltenham for Trials day next, I think there’s a Grade Two there for him, and I think he’s earned that.

“We did enter him in the Challow, that’s what we think of him, but we swerved that to come here and get a bit more experience and then hopefully on to Cheltenham.

“It’s where he needs to go next and that will tell us what route we need to take after that. He’s qualified for the EBF at Sandown as well, or if he goes very well at Cheltenham, maybe we will go back to Cheltenham again in March.

“He’ll definitely stay three miles in time and once he goes over fences, I think he’ll be three miles. He’s a lovely horse – a little bit quirky and he just takes a bit of knowing, but he’s very good.”

Pauling, meanwhile, has big plans for after he made a successful first start for the stable in the Advertise Your Business At Huntingdon Racecourse Maiden Hurdle.

Ben Jones sent the 3-1 chance to the front approaching the second last and secured a decisive advantage before fending off the late charge of favourite George’s Lad by a length.

The six-year-old was bought for £90,000 in late November after winning an Irish point-to-point by 10 lengths and that looks money well spent.

Pauling said: “I was quite hopeful. We’d done a few pieces of work with him and what he’d done, he’d done beautifully.

“Chucking him in a hurdle at this stage of the season probably means that I think he’s good enough to go and run in some better races in the spring and he needed to come here and do that today.

“Ben said it was quite tacky, holding ground out there but he seemed to cope with it fine. He said it wouldn’t matter if it was two miles or three miles and he was very happy with his jumping, so hopefully we made the right decision and we can go forward now.

“From what I’ve seen so far at home, he just oozes class and I’m hoping he could be something for maybe Aintree.

“He might just be one of those that goes and wins a couple now and you’ll see him in a better race in the spring. He wouldn’t be ready for Cheltenham but coming here I hoped he would do what he’s done.”