Salt Bay could prove Supreme springer after De Bromhead switch

Cheltenham Festival entrant Salt Bay could be about to sprinkle a bit of class onto the novice hurdling scene having switched to Ireland to join Henry de Bromhead.

A regular in quality middle-distance events when on the Flat with Ralph Beckett, the Valmont-owned five-year-old reached a peak rating of 109 and came close to toppling the likes of Hamish and Al Qareem in the John Porter Stakes at Newbury last April.

With a preference for cut in the ground, Salt Bay failed to replicate some of his earlier 2024 performances at the back-end of last season, with connections deciding to change tack and try hurdling in a bid to revive the gelding’s fortunes.

Sent to Robbie Power to be put through his paces over obstacles on arrival in Ireland, he has now settled into his new surroundings at De Bromhead’s Knockeen barracks ahead of his impending hurdling bow.

“We decided after the St Simon Stakes at Newbury we needed to change things up with him and he’s a horse with a lot of talent,” said Alex Elliott, Valmont’s racing advisor.

“He loves soft ground and had a bit of a stop-start campaign last year because of that and we thought jumping might rekindle a bit of a spark in him, as he’s capable of some big performances on his day.

“I have a long-standing relationship with Henry, having bought A Plus Tard and a few others, so we sent him over there and he did a month’s schooling with Robbie Power and proved very natural.

“He’s been at Henry’s since the beginning of the month and we’re looking to getting him started over hurdles in a couple of weeks’ time and we’ll see how it goes.”

Fresh from winning their maiden Classic last summer, when Beckett’s You Got To Me scooped the Irish Oaks, the ambitious owners could have their first runner at the Cheltenham Festival if Salt Bay proves up to the task over timber.

He holds an entry for the meeting-opening Sky Bet Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, but connections are also eyeing a dual-purpose campaign and the opportunity to take advantage of anticipated softer conditions in Ireland throughout the summer Flat season.

“We need to find out if he fancies it over jumps and hopefully he does and it might just be a little bit easier for him, with them going that step slower,” continued Elliott.

“His jumping seems to be good, Henry and his team seem to like him and Robbie Power loved him. We’d be feeling quite positive about his chances in this discipline.

“If it goes well, we can then move forward, but if it doesn’t, we can maybe keep him for the Flat with Henry and hopefully a change of scenery will help him. He’s more likely to get soft ground in Ireland during the Flat season, we think.

“There’s no better man for a dual-purpose horse than Henry at the minute and he’s had a lot of success mapping out that kind of campaign with Magical Zoe, who is another horse I bought.”

He added: “It’s going to be a bit of fun and Anthony Ramsden of Valmont is very much Flat orientated. But if you get a five-year-old like this, it’s just another string to the bow to be able to go jumping and we’re looking forward to seeing what he can do.

“The summer is not far away and it has been a quiet winter for us, but we’re looking forward to the next year – and horses like Sandtrap, Push The Limit and I Am I Said are hopefully some exciting horses we have to run.”