Haydock Champion Hurdle Trial option for Clyne

Clyne is set to step up in class for the stanjames.com Champion Hurdle Trial at Haydock on January 21 following his victory in the Merseyside fog on Saturday.

Heavy fog afflicted the track for much of the afternoon and visibility was at its worst for the concluding 32Red.com Handicap Hurdle.

It was only after the horses returned to the enclosures that the judge was able to announce that Clyne had landed the spoils.

The six-year-old, who carried top-weight under Adam Wedge, was declared the winner over Le Rocher, but no distances were recorded, nor any official finishing time.

It was Clyne's fourth win in a row and his second of the season at Haydock.

Trainer Evan Williams is keen to exploit the six-year-old's liking for the track and feels the Champion Hurdle Trial is an ideal opportunity.

"It was a strange old race in the fog, but he's still carried a big weight to beat some decent horses, so we're delighted," said the Llancarfan handler.

"He'll go for the Champion Hurdle Trial up there. He loves the track and that ground.

"I'd say handicaps are out now, so we'll run him the Champion Hurdle Trial."

Meanwhile, Williams is now looking to qualify Buywise for the Pertemps Network Final at the Cheltenham Festival following a disappointing effort over fences.

A qualifier at Wincanton on Boxing Day is the likely port of call for the nine-year-old.

Buywise was expected to run a big race in the Caspian Caviar Gold Cup on the back of his third place in the BetVictor Gold Cup at Cheltenham in November.

However, jumping errors proved costly and he could not get into a challenging position, eventually finishing a never-nearer seventh.

"He's come out of the race really well and I think I'm going to run him over hurdles," said Williams.

"He demolished a couple of fences at Cheltenham last time.

"The visor obviously didn't help him, so I think we might go back hurdling with him because I think the handicapper has got us over fences and we may as well see how gets on over hurdles.

"I'll probably run him in a Pertemps qualifier in Wincanton on Boxing Day.

"I imagine we'll run him in that and try to get him qualified for the Pertemps final at Cheltenham.

"That's what we might try and do. We'll definitely enter him next week and look to run him."