Pioneer Pete could have the County Hurdle back at Cheltenham in March as a target after continuing his charge up the two-mile hurdling rankings in the Unibet Greatwood Handicap Hurdle.
Posting a fourth win on the spin and backing up his impressive Welsh Champion Hurdle win at Chepstow, the likeable five-year-old was always in the front rank under Jonjo O’Neill Jnr and came clear to win by six and a half lengths at 7-2 from Tennessee Tango.
Victory for O’Neill, winning on the horse for the fifth time and riding for his father-brother training combination of Jonjo and AJ O’Neill, put welcome gloss on a day in which he had fallen twice from three previous rides.
“I thought Chepstow was his limit, but he is an amazing little horse,” said O’Neill senior. “I have no idea how much more is left in the locker, but he is a horse in form and you would have to look at all those options like the County Hurdle now.”
The training duo landed the County Hurdle with Wilful last March and AJ O’Neill admitted they are hoping the five-year-old may be good enough to chart a similar path.
“That is the dream. Wilful was a massive improver through the season and this fellow seems to be doing the same,” he said.
“We didn’t know how he would handle the ground exactly, but he seemed to handle it very well and hopefully he can continue to keep improving in the same respect.
“He is a horse that keeps improving. He is a horse that has improved every time he has run, then he comes back home and works like an improved horse which is nice to see. Hopefully he can continue to do that.
“I thought he winged the first and Jonjo had him in a lovely position. He switched him out for the slightly fresher ground and when he did that I thought, ‘here we go’.
“He missed the last which doesn’t help, but the horse tries really hard, you can guarantee he will always put in his best effort and then hopefully they are good enough on the day.”
He also paid tribute to his brother, adding: “Jonjo is as resilient a jockey as you could find and that is just a good show of it today. The day hadn’t worked out up until now, but he has given him an absolutely beautiful ride and it is testament to the jockey.”
It was all smiles for winning connections, with Pioneer Pete being bred by Anthea Leigh, daughter of the late Peter Beaumont and named in honour of her Gold Cup-winning father.
“I think someone was looking down on us,” said Leigh, who is racing manager and raceday clerk of the course at York. “It would have been his thing altogether, give him time and lots of education.
“I can’t believe it, I had go into the stands and watch it on my own! This business is all about dreams and this is a dream.”
The race did see another apparent slip on the level at the meeting, however, this time with The Hardest Geezer coming a cropper on the bend entering the straight under Ben Jones. Both horse and rider appeared to emerge unscathed.
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