Big expectations on Wise Eagle to deliver in National Hunt sphere

A seasoned Flat campaigner, the seven-year-old returned to obstacles after a four-year absence last week and cantered to a 23-length success in a maiden hurdle at the Scottish track.

The son of Free Eagle was last seen over timber in December 2020, when he was a five-and-a-half-length second behind King’s Creek in a juvenile hurdle at Catterick.

He then won a Newcastle bumper, while he has also got his nose in front 11 times on the Flat and Nicol is convinced there is a big win to be had in the National Hunt sphere for his charge.

Nicol said: “It’s been a long time between the Catterick run and this run, but he’s just got a little bit clever for the Flat.

“He’s probably badly handicapped, he’s not quite good enough for Group class, Group Ones and Twos, as he found out when he ran against Trueshan and Sweet William at Doncaster.

“Then when we ran him in heritage handicaps, he’s giving weight all round, so we thought he loves Musselburgh and we saw that maiden hurdle there and we thought we’d give it a go – and he’s five from six around there now.

“I’m hoping we’ll find out on Tuesday if he gets a mark because he’s had those two runs and then I’ll make a decision whether we either give him a break or give him another run with a penalty in a novice hurdle and then give him a break.

“It’ll depend on the mark that the handicapper gives us and then we’ll make a plan from there. We’ll likely give him one more run and then give him a short break, because he’s been in since January.

“Then we’ll try to set him up for a good pot somewhere at the back end of the winter in March/April time and just try to pick the tracks, because I think he’s got a bit of speed, but he stays, so we’ll just try to pick the right conditions for him.

“He’s obviously clearly got a bit of class. His jumping was fantastic. For a horse that’s not run over hurdles for four years, and he’d only been over hurdles once, to go out there and (jockey) Craig (Nichol) kept it simple, he didn’t mess about and the horse was just looking for the next hurdle as soon as he cleared the first.

“Hurdling is the future. He’s not that big, he probably would jump a fence. He’s very slick, he doesn’t waste much time over a hurdle and I think because he’s hardened off the Flat, there could be a nice pot for this lad in a handicap hurdle somewhere, so it’s something to look forward to.”