Hidden Cyclone, who has raced seven times in Grade One company over hurdles and fences without success, is 14-1 from 25-1 to break his duck in the Queen Mother Champion Chase at Cheltenham next month after a straightforward victory in the Grade Two Tied Cottage Chase at Punchestown on Sunday.
Shark Hanlon’s 10-year-old was the runner-up to Sire De Grugy in the Festival meeting’s two-mile championship over fences last season, but was a faller in his next two starts at the highest level before finishing second behind Twinlight in the Grade One Dial-A-Bet Chase in December.
The drop in grade for his Cheltenham prep-race saw Hidden Cyclone return to the winner’s enclosure for the first time since September 2013, as he made all the running and then quickened two out to come home five lengths clear of Bright New Dawn with Twinlight another half-length away in third.
“We’re happy for a change,” Hanlon said. “We’re so used to being second, so it’s good to come here and win. The better ground helped. Over two miles he’s good and he has plenty of cruising gears. I have to speak to the owners yet but I’d say the Queen Mother is the plan and he’ll go straight to Cheltenham now.
“He jumped well today, never put a foot wrong, and I’d say that’s the best he’s ever jumped. He also did something today which he hasn’t ever done and that’s settle. Andrew [McNamara, his jockey] said going to the start that he thought there was something wrong with him.”
Elsewhere on the Punchestown card, Quantitativeeasing was a disappointing odds-on favourite for the PP Hogan Memorial Chase over the Banks course, finishing only fourth behind the 20-1 chance Ballyboker Bridge.
At Musselburgh, Hargam emerged as a significant contender for the Triumph Hurdle at Cheltenham next month with a six-length defeat of Starchitect in the John Smith’s Scottish Triumph Hurdle Trial.
Nicky Henderson, Hargam’s trainer, also prepares Peace And Co, the ante-post favourite for the juvenile championship, but feels that Hargam fully deserves a place in the field at Cheltenham.
“I was very pleased with that and AP [McCoy, his jockey] was too,” Henderson said. “He jumped very well and travelled well and enjoyed it.
“I’ll talk to JP [McManus, Hargam’s owner] but I imagine it’s straight to the Triumph now, he doesn’t need another run. Obviously we’ve got Peace And Co too and we’re very lucky to have them both, but there’ll be more than just him to beat. I was really quite impressed today, they weren’t complete mugs he was beating.”
Peace And Co is top-priced at 15-8 with Paddy Power for the Triumph Hurdle, while Ladbrokes are the only firm with a double-figure price about Hargam at 10-1. Willie Mullins’s Kalkir, who is expected to run in a Grade One juvenile hurdle at Leopardstown on Sunday which has been the prep-race for the last two Triumph winners, is also 10-1 and it is 20-1 bar the three.
