Press Your Luck will target a race at the Aintree Festival next month following his rout of what looked a competitive field for the £40,000 Virgin Bet Handicap Hurdle at Kempton Park.
The 10-1 shot travelled so well on the outer for Jamie Moore that the combination looked the likely winner early in the home straight. When given the office the seven-year-old skipped three and a quarter lengths clear of Paddys Motorbike.
Trainer Chris Gordon felt the winner’s recent Wincanton triumph acted as a confidence lifter, and explained: “I was a bit obsessed with him running in smaller fields and so today with more runners I told Jamie to keep him on the outer.
“He sulked in the cheekpieces we fitted for the Lanzarote and so we went back to square one.”
Part-owner Paul Cox, who lives in the shadow of Plumpton racecourse, praised Gordon for his knack at finding good horses at relatively inexpensive prices.
He observed: “Chris likes the Monbegs and Doyens that tend to be cheaper, and by that I mean at 50 grand this was an inexpensive horse. Chris is a seriously good trainer.”
Gordon added that his smart novice Aucunrisque would head for the Grade One novice hurdle at Aintree rather than go down the handicap route.
