Malone Road bound for Champion Bumper after second straight impressive victory

We will not see him until the Cheltenham Festival in March but Malone Road is set to line up as the hot favourite for the Weatherbys Champion Bumper after making it two wins from two in breathtaking style.

Trained by Gordon Elliott for owners Cheveley Park Stud, the son of Kalanisi created a big impression when scoring on his debut under Jamie Codd at Down Royal and his performance for the same rider here was even better as he trounced the Willie Mullins-trained Mt Leinster – himself a 22-length winner on his first start at Ballinrobe – by eight and a half lengths.

Bookmakers reacted by installing Malone Road as the general 6-1 favourite for the Champion Bumper and Elliott, who rates the four-year-old highly, said: "He was good at Down Royal and we thought he had improved. He was very impressive here, beating a good horse of Willie’s and I loved the way he picked up and quickened clear.