Fergal O’Brien’s Dysart Enos was hardly pressed when maintaining her flawless record in the Download The At The Races App Novices’ Hurdle at Doncaster.

The mare is considered a real prospect and had done nothing wrong in five starts when heading to Town Moor with three bumper wins and two hurdle victories on her CV.

The Cheltenham Festival is on the horizon for the six-year-old and the Doncaster contest proved to be the perfect preparation as she triumphed at a canter under Paddy Brennan, crossing the line seven lengths ahead as the 1-9 favourite.

“We’re very happy with her, obviously it’s very nerve-wracking when you’re 1-9 on and she had to go and win,” said O’Brien.

“She had to win or it was going to be a disaster, there’d have been a big bubble burst! But she did the job well and we were very happy.

“She did it as well as we hoped she’d do it, she’s in good form with herself and she enjoyed the whole job – that was nice to see.

“I think you’ll see her to better effect in a better race, she was just jumping a little bit up in the air today.

“Her jumping at Cheltenham (in December) was probably better, if you were going to crab her, but in a better race she’ll jump better.”

Paddy Power left the winner unchanged at 7-2 for the Ryanair Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle in March, and O’Brien added: “She got the job done, Paddy was happy with her, fingers crossed it’s Cheltenham now.”

Fergal O’Brien’s Dysart Enos is likely to be seen once more before taking aim at a Cheltenham return for the Festival in March.

Last season the mare made her mark when winning three bumpers in good style, including a defeat of the useful Queens Gamble at Market Rasen and then a wide-margin success in a Grade Two event at the Grand National meeting.

Her hurdling career has been equally successful so far, with the five-year-old taking her debut over obstacles by seven and a half lengths at Huntingdon in November.

She then lined up at Cheltenham on Friday in what has historically been a good race, previously won by the likes of Datsalrightgino, Chantry House and Elixir De Nutz.

Under Paddy Brennan she was the 5-6 favourite and cantered home a comfortable victor, with the runner-up beaten two and three-quarter lengths and the third over 13 lengths away.

A return to Cheltenham for the showpiece meeting is the ultimate aim, with O’Brien hoping to find another suitable outing for the mare before then.

“She’s very well and we’re really pleased with her. She did it well at Cheltenham, I’m not much into timing but people say she did it very fast,” he said.

“You need a fast one and her last furlongs were fairly fast, so fingers crossed that bodes well.

“You couldn’t fault her, she did everything we wanted her to do and took the whole thing in really well.

“Cheltenham is different to anywhere else, I know it’s not March and there’ll be twice as many people there, or three times as many, but it’s still great to get her there.

“When, hopefully, she goes back there in March, she’ll be in familiar surroundings having been there before.

“There was plenty of depth in there, it was a nice race to go for and it ticked a lot of boxes for us.”

O’Brien will now scour the calendar for the mare’s next outing, with early February considered the ideal time for her final run before the highlight of the National Hunt season.

“The obvious one is Doncaster in January, but Paddy (Brennan) feels that might be too soon, we’d probably be happier with the first week in February,” he said.

“It’s just trying to find somewhere where she hasn’t got a load of weight, we’ll give it a go and try to find something.”

Whilst Dysart Enos made a success of the meeting, the O’Brien team did suffer some disappointment when Bonttay unseated Brennan in the Virgin Bet Every Saturday Money Back Mares’ Handicap Hurdle.

The mare has been incredibly consistent for connections having never finished out of the top two coming into the race, and on the turn for home she looked poised to add to her record as she approached the penultimate hurdle on the bridle.

A third Cheltenham success was not to be, however, as the six-year-old misjudged the obstacle and pecked heavily on landing before parting ways with her rider.

Thankfully both horse and rider were unharmed and O’Brien hopes to find another day for the mare to shine.

“It was a long way out so it’s a bit difficult to know whether she’d have won or not, but she’s come out of it fine,” he said.

“She had a little scratch on her hind leg but other than that she’s OK, she’ll be fine for another day.”

Dysart Enos has done absolutely nothing wrong in her career to date and can come through the next step in her development in the British EBF “National Hunt” Novices’ Hurdle at Cheltenham.

Fergal O’Brien will learn a lot more about his mare after this, because in truth she has not been tested in four runs under rules to date.

This will be different, however, because not only is she taking on the boys for the first time since her debut in a Ludlow bumper, but several of her rivals have already shown some smart form.

Harry Fry’s Beat The Bat won at Ascot, Nicky Henderson’s Kintail has scored at Warwick while the Paul Nicholls-trained Meatloaf was very impressive at Wincanton.

They all carry penalties, as does Dysart Enos, but her 7lb mares’ allowance could come in handy.

The Nicholls-trained Ginny’s Destiny really impressed when winning on Cheltenham’s Old course in November and there is no reason to believe he will not be as effective on the New course.

He looked a completely different proposition allowed to dictate compared to his first run of the season and he may just be one of those who takes his form to a completely different level over fences compared to hurdles.

Dan Skelton’s Grey Dawning won nicely at Haydock having earlier gone close behind Stay Away Fay at Exeter so rates a massive danger.

However, all his form is on flat tracks so he needs to prove he is as effective on an undulating course.

Doddiethegreat seems to have been found a great opportunity to maintain his unbeaten record and raise money for a good cause in the Catesby Estates Handicap Hurdle.

Named after the late Scottish rugby union international Doddie Weir, any money he wins is donated to MND charities and so far he has won all four.

That does not tell the whole story, though, as his Ascot win last time out came after a 746-day break. Should he avoided the dreaded ‘bounce’ factor he looks the one to beat off a mark of 131.

Kerry Lee’s Storm Control has more than the odd idea about the game but he may just find the pace of the Unibet Middle Distance Chase Series Veterans’ Handicap Chase to his liking.

If allowed to dictate he may just get into a rhythm and be difficult to peg back.

The Glenfarclas Crystal Cup Cross Country Handicap Chase sees 2021 Gold Cup winner Minella Indo take on a previous Savills Chase winner in Galvin and Fury Road, a Grade One winner as a novice.

As this race is a handicap, though, they may struggle to concede weight to Gesskille, who is being aimed at the Grand National.

He is trained by the excellent duo of Oliver Greenall and Josh Guerriero who may double up in the Citipost Handicap Hurdle with White Rhino.

Bective Abbey can make a winning rules debut for Henderson in the At The Races App Form Study Novices’ Hurdle at Doncaster.

A winning pointer, he was purchased for £150,000 and has missed plenty of engagements looking for better ground.

Hold That Taught can follow up a recent Ascot win in the Alfa Aggregate Products Golden Spurs Handicap Chase at Bangor.

Reprised can make the most of a mark of 70 in the Boost Your Acca At BetMGM Nursery Handicap at Southwell.

SELECTIONS:

BANGOR: 12.20 Hector Master, 12.55 Fakir, 1.30 Hold That Taught, 2.05 Butler’s Brief, 2.35 Just Gino, 3.10 Mullins Cross, 3.42 Grand Albert.

CHELTENHAM: 12.05 DYSART ENOS (NAP), 12.40 Ginny’s Destiny, 1.15 Doddiethegreat, 1.50 La Malmason, 2.25 Storm Control, 3.00 Gesskille, 3.35 White Rhino.

DONCASTER: 11.25 Imperial Jade, 11.55 Bective Abbey, 12.30 Urban Soldier, 1.05 Prairie Wolf, 1.40 Bold Reaction, 2.15 Twinjets, 2.50 Magical Annie, 3.22 Tango Boy.

DUNDALK: 4.45 Scorchio, 5.15 Step It Out, 5.45 Dawn Rider, 6.15 Feature This, 6.45 Comfort Line, 7.15 Volatile Analyst, 7.45 Senado Square, 8.15 Celtic Revival.

SOUTHWELL: 5.00 Brownlee, 5.30 Reprised, 6.00 Cobh Harbour, 6.30 Sharp Distinction, 7.00 Smart Deal, 7.30 Willow Baby, 8.00 She’s The Danger, 8.30 Back Tomorrow.

DOUBLE: Dysart Enos and Ginny’s Destiny.

Fergal O’Brien’s Dysart Enos will take another step in her hurdling career when she lines up at Cheltenham on Friday.

The five-year-old was unbeaten in bumpers, including taking the Listed Alan Swinbank at Market Rasen ahead of the equally-promising Queens Gamble and then the Grade Two Nickel Coin at Aintree by nine lengths.

Her hurdling debut came at Huntingdon in November, where the bay was the seven-and-a-half-length winner of a mares’ two-mile novice event.

Cheltenham is her next destination as she holds an entry for the British EBF “National Hunt” Novices’ Hurdle, a race in which she we take on geldings over two miles and a furlong.

“That’s the plan, to go and give her a spin around there,” O’Brien said.

“I know we’re against the boys, but fingers crossed it’ll be a good bit of experience for her.

“It’s a very competitive novice hurdle on paper, but we have to go and try these things, the main reason is to get her there and to see how she handles Cheltenham.”

Stablemate Bonttay is entered at the same meeting as she is due to run in the Virgin Bet Every Saturday Money Back Mares’ Handicap Hurdle after winning her seasonal debut at Hereford in early November.

The six-year-old has never been out of the top two in nine starts, winning six times with a record of two from three at Cheltenham.

“She’s in good form, we’re really happy with her,” O’Brien said.

“She won very well at Hereford and we were pleased with that, she loves Cheltenham – she’s run there three times and won two and was second in the other.

“If you could pick a track that wouldn’t suit her it would be Hereford over two miles, it was just a case of wanting to get a run into her and get the freshness out of her, then this race was always the target.”

A trip to Newbury on Saturday week is a possibility for Dysart Enos having delighted Fergal O’Brien at Huntingdon earlier this month.

Unbeaten in three starts in bumpers, including when blitzing the field to claim Grade Two honours at Aintree in the spring, she enhanced her perfect record on her hurdles debut with a thoroughly impressive display in the hands of Paddy Brennan.

She scorched seven and a half lengths clear of her rivals on that occasion and her handler is now considering a shot at Listed glory in the Play Coral “Racing-Super-Series” For Free Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle on December 2, with the Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival remaining the five-year-old’s ultimate aim.

O’Brien said: “She will be entered for Newbury and we’ll have a look and see what’s about. We are just trying to pick our way to try to get her to Cheltenham.

“She’s in great form and has come out of the race at Huntingdon well and we keep our fingers crossed.

“There was a lot to like about it, she was a bit keen and a bit novicey at some of her jumps, but at the important part of the race she quickened up nicely.”

Top bumper mare Dysart Enos made the perfect start to her hurdling career with an easy success at Huntingdon.

The Fergal O’Brien-trained five-year-old was unbeaten throughout her bumper campaign, including a one-length defeat of Queens Gamble at Market Rasen and a nine-length victory in the Grade Two Nickel Coin at Aintree.

The latter start was the end of her season in the spring and she returned to action this time around to make her debut over obstacles in the RhinoBet Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle.

Under Paddy Brennan, the mare started as the 1-7 favourite and justified those odds when making light work of a field of 10.

The bay jumped fluently throughout the two-mile event and was able to pull away after a big leap at the last, prevailing by seven and a half lengths and finishing full of running.

“We were delighted with today, she jumped and travelled as well as we’d hoped and we were really pleased,” O’Brien said.

“It’s just lovely to get that first run over hurdles out of the way, I know she had jumped point to point fences but it’s still nice to see her jump out on the track.

“She did very well, I am delighted. I couldn’t be happier with her today.

“I think that’ll stand her in good stead, she’ll have learnt a lot today. Hopefully, in a slightly better race when she’s going in her stride, she’ll jump even better.

“She loves being a racehorse, she enjoys racing and being competitive.

“At Newbury on the 2nd of December, there’s a mares’ Listed race there, we’ll tread that path for now and see how we go.”