THE steady pace in the novice hurdle won by the Colin Tizzard-trained Eldorado Allen (143) at Sandown last Sunday means that the overall time was unlikely to raise an eyebrow, but his closing sectionals were excellent, and he merited a significant upgrade as a result.

He put a smart bumper horse, Severano, to bed easily and showed the kind of tactical speed which should make him deadly in better quality hurdles over the minimum trip. He’s certainly one of the best novice hurdling prospects on either side of the Irish Sea, thus far.