Cristal d’Estruval takes another step towards Cheltenham

Harry Derham has Cheltenham Festival ambitions for Cristal d’Estruval after he maintained his unbeaten record with a dominant display at Carlisle.

Bought for £400,000 at the Tattersalls Cheltenham Festival sale in March, the four-year-old began repaying that significant investment when beating subsequent winner Baron Noir on his hurdling debut at Warwick last month.

The Pricedup.Bet Novices’ Hurdle looked a gilt-edged opportunity for Cristal d’Estruval to follow up and he was priced accordingly as the 1-14 favourite – and while he made a couple of minor jumping errors, he ultimately won as his odds suggested he should, passing the post with 38 lengths in hand under Paul O’Brien.

Derham, who made the long journey from Berkshire to Cumbria to saddle his solitary runner on the card, told Racing TV: “I wanted to get another run into him before going into something better and I think this is a great track with nice, safe ground.

“He won’t have learnt much today, but he’s a funny horse because when something gets upsides him and races him he jumps brilliantly and concentrates, whereas up the straight he was only dossing.

“He’s the same at home – if you galloped him with along with a really ordinary horse he just floats along and if he’s going with something a bit better he does the same.”

Paddy Power left Cristal d’Estruval as an unchanged 25-1 shot for both the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle and the Turners Novices’ Hurdle at Cheltenham, and Derham identified a possible stepping-stone at Haydock in the new year.

He added: “I wanted to get another race into him and now that’s done we’ll look at something a bit better.

“I wouldn’t run him on desperate ground because he has a good action, but as long as it wasn’t bottomless I’d look to go to Haydock next.

“I don’t think it’s mental to say he could run at Cheltenham – he’s a good horse. He’s obviously achieved nothing today bar gallop round, but I’m looking at a Supreme trial.

“Eventually his trip will be further than two miles, but I’m not in a rush to step him up. He’s going to have plenty of hard races in his life over a longer trip.”