O’Neill aims for Fighting Fifth with Wilful after Carlisle success

Wilful is set for an immediate return to Grade One level after he made a winning start to his season in a deep renewal of the Panoramic Hurdle at Carlisle.

The £50,000 Listed contest is usually staged at Kempton and while unsuitably quick ground in Sunbury forced a change of venue, racegoers in Cumbria were served a treat, with plenty of big names making the long journey north.

Jeremy Scott’s 2025 Champion Hurdle heroine Golden Ace was the marginal favourite at 11-4, with Jonjo and AJ O’Neill’s Wilful, a three-time winner of this race in the Paul Nicholls-trained Rubaud, James Owen’s popular dual-purpose performer Burdett Road and Dan Skelton’s Grade One-winning chaser Mirabad also in the mix.

Wilful, who the County Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival before finishing third behind Lossiemouth and Golden Ace in the Champion Hurdle at Punchestown in the spring, was a 3-1 shot for his seasonal debut and dug deep for Jonjo O’Neill Jr to see off Mirabad by three-quarters of a length, with Golden Ace performing with plenty of credit in third.

Of the winner, AJ O’Neill told Racing TV: “He’s been a fantastic horse, he was progressive all the way through last season and it’s great to see him starting in the same form as he finished last season.

“It was obviously a competitive race today, with very decent horses and Grade One winners in behind him. I’m just delighted that he’s managed to get the season off to a good start and hopefully we can progress on from there.

“He’s a very special little horse and hopefully he can keep improving. Every horse is entitled to come on a little bit from their first run (of the season), how much, we’ll have to see how he goes at home.”

Wilful is now set to head to the north east on November 28, with the Fighting Fifth Hurdle at Newcastle very much on the agenda.

“Full credit to the BHA and The Jockey Club for managing to get this race back on because it’s an important sort of race, having a conditions race in October for two-mile hurdlers before something like a Fighting Fifth next month,” O’Neill added.

“It’s a fantastic preparatory race for something like that, so hopefully we can aim for there.”

Earlier on the card the Skeltons unleashed 580,000 guineas purchase Push The Limit, but he was upstaged in the Class Of ’63: 63 Years On Novices’ Hurdle by Lucinda Russell and Michael Scudamore’s runaway winner Watery Borren.

A 17-2 shot having won his only start in the Irish point-to-point sphere, the latter was keen in front throughout in the hands of Derek Fox but still managed to win by 12 lengths from Eagle Warrior, with 4-5 favourite and high-class Flat performer Push The Limit only third.

Russell said: “Isn’t he brilliant? He’s very uncomplicated. The only thing is he is quite strong and as you saw today he goes with ears pricked, but he’s taking a bit of a hold there.

“Derek said he’d keep it simple and that’s what he did. I knew that he’d stay and the ground is lovely out there. I think he could be OK over hurdles and two miles is his minimum trip – we can always step him up as well.”