Saturday 16 November 2019 13:28, UK
Allmankind maintained his unbeaten record over timber with a swashbuckling display in the JCB Triumph Trial Juvenile Hurdle at Cheltenham.
Decent on the Flat for Michael Bell, he bolted up on his debut over hurdles at Warwick in a lesser event.
Stepped up to Grade Two level, he adopted the same front-running tactics and was soon a long way clear under Harry Skelton.
Given a breather coming down the hill, his rivals closed up, but the well-backed 11-4 shot went on again in the straight and won unchallenged by two and a half lengths from Botox Has.
"I thought those tactics were possible but not probable here," said Skelton.
"If you think he's keen you should see him at home, he's much worse. There was no point running in a Mickey Mouse race and he's hard on himself at home, so we may as well take him to the races.
"At two they didn't think he was far off Derby standard, but he just got keener and keener. He's bull-headed, but to keep going in those conditions you need to be strong.
"He's shown us what he can do, so we'll go steady now and treat him with the respect he deserves and we'll aim to come back here in March.
"I can't see a reason to run much before then, maybe one race before it. If he hasn't boiled over today, I can't see why he would in March.
"I don't think we will go to Chepstow unless we try to give him something quiet and he doesn't want to have it. I think we will have one run three weeks before the Festival to get a little bit of the fizz out of him."
