Michael Buckley enthused by Brain Power's Ascot performance

Owner Michael Buckley hailed Brain Power's win at Ascot last time out as a "revelation".His victory off top weight in the Wessex Youth Trust Handicap Hurdle catapulted him into the Champion Hurdle reckoning.The Nicky Henderson-trained six-year-old is due to have his credentials tested at Sandown next, when he is likely to face Alan King's Yanworth in the Betfred 'Follow Us On Twitter' Contenders Hurdle. "He put up a pretty good performance at Ascot, I must say, it was a revelation to me," Buckley told At The Races. "Nicky was very keen on his chance in the race before, which was a much smaller handicap at Sandown, and he nearly got caught then by Consul De Thaix."Ascot was tricky because it was so foggy you could hardly see anything, but he was obviously travelling very well, the bits we could see anyway."We saw him going into Swinley Bottom travelling very well, but apparently he flattened a hurdle going down the hill there before that which didn't stop him."We saw him just before they came out of the back when he was in third or fourth, and the next time we saw him he was five lengths clear."The two encouraging things were he was carrying a huge weight and the time was substantially the best of the day, so it looks as if it was a good race."He went up another 13lb, so that was 20lb in two weeks and he's out of handicaps on 162. "I think he's where he is in the Champion Hurdle betting (12-1 shot)because Willie (Mullins) has the two favourites but neither have run yet."