Cromwell hoping to add to his Festival tally with Sixandahalf

Gavin Cromwell has already saddled six Cheltenham Festival winners including a Champion Hurdle with the ill-fated Espoir d’Allen and two Stayers Hurdle victories with Flooring Porter and the Danestown trainer has a number of good chances to add to that tally next week including with Sixandahalf in the Ryanair Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle.

The daughter of Snow Sky won three times (bumper/2 Flat) last year finishing up with a rating of 94 following her third in the Irish Cesarewitch and made an impressive debut over hurdles at Fairyhouse in January.

“She has surprised us no end. She’s a small little thing and is a homebred filly sent to us that we didn’t expect to achieve anything like she has done,” said William Hill ambassador Cromwell.

“She won her bumper at the Punchestown Festival by 11 lengths and then she won a maiden on the Flat and a handicap at Newmarket. She’s done a lot in a short space of time and won her only hurdle run and jumped like a handicapper. She’s an exciting little filly.

“She does everything right and tries hard, but she is small so it’s not like she has the size and scope to keep improving year on year. At the same time, she has only been racing for one season so hopefully she can continue to do things right.

“She enjoys jumping and you can’t put that into them. The way she jumped we said we wouldn’t run her again. She had the option of going back for the Solerina two weeks later, but we felt that might be one race too many and we’d take in a schooling race instead.”