'He won at 33-1 and has kept surprising us' - White Rhino given Cheltenham Festival target after 49lb ratings rise in ten months

Oliver Greenall and Josh Guerriero are eyeing further Cheltenham Festival success with White Rhino after his emotional success on Friday.

The remarkable hurdler scored his fifth handicap success in ten months at Cheltenham, with jockey Henry Brooke returning to the winner's enclosure in tears just 35 minutes after Grand Sefton Chase-winning stablemate Gesskille had suffered a fatal injury in the cross-country chase.

Now the joint-trainers, who won the Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys' Handicap Hurdle with Iroko in March, are aiming for a return to the festival with White Rhino, who has risen 49lb in the handicap during his winning spree.

"He's come out of the race well and we'll try to get him qualified for the Pertemps at Cheltenham," said Greenall on Sunday. "There's a qualifier at Huntingdon in about a month's time.

"He stayed the trip well on his step up to three miles on Friday and probably improved for it as well."

The joint-trainer admitted he was as surprised as anyone by the progress of a seven-year-old who made his debut only 13 months ago and was racing off a BHA mark of just 74 when winning a handicap at Southwell in February.

"We bought him unraced and the first three times we ran him he looked so inexperienced, he didn't know what he was doing at all," said Greenall.

"We knew he'd be better when he got in a handicap but he was 33-1 the first time we ran him in one because we thought he'd need a few more runs to work out what he needed to do. But he bolted up, which we were very surprised about.

"We've been just as surprised with how he's progressed since. Coming into this season we thought he was at the top of his handicap mark over hurdles and we gave him a run at Carlisle before going chasing. But he was unbelievable when he won there, he seemed to have really progressed, so we decided to stay over hurdles."

Looking to 2024 for a horse who cost £22,000 in December 2021, Greenall said: "It's a question of how much more he can improve. Going up again after winning at Cheltenham is going to make it even harder, but he didn't look like he'd stopped progressing with the way he won."

The JP McManus-owned Iroko is out for the season with a foot injury, having made a successful chasing debut at Warwick, but the joint-trainer said: "I spoke to Martinstown last week and he's walking every day and they're happy with him."

Homme Public: won Cheltenham's Grade 2 Arkle trial last monthCredit: John Grossick (racingpost.com/photos)

Dual chase winner Homme Public will bid to complete a hat-trick in a novice handicap chase at Ascot on Friday.

"He's come alive since going over fences and he's better on better ground, but we need to give him three runs over fences so he's eligible for the good races in the spring," said Greenall. "The Red Rum Chase at Aintree could be something we look at."

It was at Aintree that Gesskille ran his best races, finishing second in a Grand Sefton and a Becher before winning there last month.

"What happened to him was horrible," reflected Greenall. "Luckily it doesn't happen very often and we haven't had anything like that for ages, but it is always hard to take."

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Henry Brooke reduced to tears after paying emotional ITV tribute following death of stable star Gesskille 

Leading JP McManus-owned Cheltenham Festival hope Iroko ruled out for the season with foot injury 

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