'Everything went wrong and he still won' - future very bright for Mighty Potter

Monday: Leopardstown

The clue is in the name. The Paddy Power Future Champions Novice Hurdle can be a major guide to what lies ahead and Gordon Elliott is convinced the future is bright for Mighty Potter.

"He's not going to be a horse until next year," stressed Elliott after the 5-2 shot fended off the late challenge of stablemate Three Stripe Life.

BoyleSports initially trimmed Mighty Potter to 16-1 (from 20) for the Supreme Novices' Hurdle at Cheltenham but that was soon shortened further to 12-1. Paddy Power go 14-1 for the festival opener but just 10-1 (from 14) for the Ballymore.

1.45 Leopardstown: full result and race replay

Elliott was not giving any clues about which direction Mighty Potter would be heading in March, saying: "We'll get today out of the way and then we'll see what happens."

Wherever he goes, Mighty Potter should be a player. His jumping left a bit to be desired but the way he travelled through the contest was easy on the eye. When push came to shove he found more than enough for Jack Kennedy to get the job done.

“That was great and it's great for Jack as it's his first winner since coming back. It was a perfect result," said Elliott.

"I was happy the whole way until the second-last but he just got wiped out there, both horses did, but they both showed guts and came back. They're two nice horses for the future. The winner is a big chaser, if you look at him, and he's not going to be a horse until next year."

Kennedy spent most of the last two months thinking about the future too as he recovered from a dislocated shoulder, which kept him out of action from early November until last Sunday. A lot of that thinking involved Mighty Potter.

The winning jockey said: "That's my first winner back and it's a nice one to get it on. He was probably the main one who had me working so hard to be fit for Christmas, so it was nice it worked out."

Mighty Potter and Jack Kennedy (red and white silks) take over at the final flight of the Grade 1 Paddy Power Future Champions Novice Hurdle at LeopardstownCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

Kennedy admitted the race didn't go smoothly for Mighty Potter.

He said: "Everything went wrong for him but he still got the job done. He didn't jump great, so there should be loads of improvement in him. He's very good over two miles and he could even go further. He took a bit of a stumble early on in the race when the leader [Largy Debut] came back in on top of me. Rachael [Blackmore] jumped a bit right at the first and, when she came back in, I happened to be there and we clipped heels. We were lucky not to come down.

"He's a massive horse and it probably takes him a bit longer to pick things up, but he's going the right way and hopefully there should be loads more to come. I'm delighted with that."

The disappointment of the race was favourite Largy Debut, who had turned over 1-14 shot Kilcruit on his hurdling debut at Cork. He jumped out to his right and never looked happy with Blackmore deciding to pull him up before the last hurdle. It was too bad to be true."

This Grade 1 belonged to Elliott and, in particular, Mighty Potter. The future is very bright indeed.

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