Hisaabaat springs to it
Hisaabaat comes to tackle Shadow Catcher (right) at the last
Hisaabaat opened his account over jumps with a smooth success in what looked a hot Spring Juvenile Hurdle at Leopardstown.
Second in his previous three starts, Dermot Weld's charge was galvanised by first-time blinkers to take this Grade One contest after progressing to challenge between the final two flights.
The 15-2 chance put in a much quicker jump at the last that leader Shadow Catcher and pulled away under Andrew Lynch to score by a length and a half, with John Quinn's raider Countrywide Flame in third.
Weld said: "He's been very consistent and got a lovely ride from Andrew. We won this race last year with Unaccompanied and the logical move would be to have a crack at the Triumph Hurdle with him.
"He's taken a little time to get his act together, but he schooled well the other morning. He had to win today to be considered (for Cheltenham) and he has done it well.
"When things go right for him, he's very good. He's getting the hang of things and the visor helped him to concentrate. He possibly would have won the Grade Three at Punchestown but for a mistake at the last. He's getting the hang of it now.
"Andrew said if he had another chance to ride him the last day here he would have waited with him for a lot longer and that's what he did today and it worked. That's why Andrew is riding so many Grade One winners!
"He will go straight to the Triumph Hurdle and you never know, he comes off a strong pace and he battles, so it might just be the making of him."
The trainer added: "Unaccompanied will not be going to Cheltenham. There are a few races on the Flat for her at the Curragh and in France and then she'll come back for the Grade One at Punchestown."
Hisaabaat was cut to 16-1 from 33s for the JCB-sponsored Triumph Hurdle with Stan James, while Paddy Power went 14-1 from 25-1.
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