Cheltenham trial awaits for Sixmilebridge

The exciting Sixmilebridge is set put his growing reputation on trial at Cheltenham at the end of the month.

Owned by the Megsons, the six-year-old excelled on his racecourse debut when trained by Ben Pauling and was subsequently deemed good enough to compete in the Champion Bumper last season.

Switched to Fergal O’Brien for a novice hurdling campaign this term, he was a beaten favourite on stable debut at Stratford in October but has since advertised his star potential with two flawless displays when upped in trip at Leicester and Huntingdon.

Those victories have advertised Sixmilebridge’s readiness to have his mettle tested in a higher grade and he will now step up to Grade Two company for the Ais Novices’ Hurdle at Prestbury Park on January 25.

“He’s going to go to Cheltenham on Trials day and Fergal is doing a brilliant job with him,” said Andrew Megson.

“His last experience of Cheltenham wasn’t great and he was beaten leaving the parade ring, so we will just have to see but Fergal and his team, they’ve managed to keep a lid on him.

“He’s always a big jiggy but was very calm and didn’t sweat up before the race at Huntingdon and Kielan (Woods) said he just put him to sleep at the front and he was asleep too much – when the horse came alongside he thought he might have to really shake him.

“He shook him up and he just shot forward to win the race, so we’re very excited about him.”

The Megson family are enjoying both plenty of winners and renewed enthusiasm for racing since splitting their string amongst numerous trainers and they have high hopes for a couple of bumper horses they have in training at O’Brien’s Ravenswell Farm base.

The five-year-old mare Blue Betty – a £90,000 purchase by Constitution Hill’s sire Blue Bresil – is generating plenty of excitement in the Megson household.

Meanwhile, Warwick debut winner Kaylan is being plotted towards Aintree in the spring, a meeting at which the O’Brien team won graded bumpers with Dysart Enos and Horaces Pearl the last two seasons.

Megson continued: “I’m loving it and it’s great fun – it helps when you get some winners. But we are enjoying it very much.

“We’ve a horse called Blue Betty who is a Blue Bresil mare we are very excited about and Kaylan is going to go to the nice bumper at Newbury after winning first time out.

“Because he is only four, Fergal said he would put him away in the field and bring him back for Newbury and then target Aintree. It’s a Fergal route.”

As well as having horses stabled with O’Brien’s Cotswolds neighbours Jonjo and AJ O’Neill, the enigmatic Harpers Brook has channelled his owners’ renewed vigour for the game since making the move to Dan Skelton.

He built on a respectable second at Newbury by claiming Wetherby’s Castleford Handicap Chase under an ice-cool ride from Woods – someone the Megson family continue to support wholeheartedly.

“It was a genius ride from Kielan and Dan has done a brilliant job getting him back,” said Megson.

“He’s had a wind op and he’s probably one of the hardest horses around to ride – as a jockey he can make a fool of you very easily.

“He got to the front 40 yards before the line and even then Kielan thought he had got there too early. He’s a brilliant jockey and a great guy as well.”