Johnson White hopes Sober Glory can give him landmark Cheltenham success

Johnson White has been at Philip Hobbs’ side for many great days at the Cheltenham Festival and, having described a winner at the meeting as a “drug you can’t get enough of", is putting full faith in Sober Glory to provide him with a landmark first success alongside his long-time guv’nor.

The Brocade Racing-owned six-year-old earned rave reviews when enhancing his reputation at Newbury and now finds himself as short as 11-1 in the betting for the curtain-raising Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, having tasted defeat in just one of his seven career starts to date.

Newbury Success Propels Supreme Novices' Ambitions

White said: “We were delighted and he’s a very exciting horse going forward, that is for sure. The Supreme is very much the target at the moment. He couldn’t have done it any more impressively.

“I know Dan Skelton thinks an awful lot of the second horse (Kadastral) and Harry Cobden was very complimentary about Sober Glory as you would hope and expect him to be.

it’s a drug you can’t get enough of.

Philip Hobbs & Johnson White

“He travelled a little bit freer than he has done before, but I think that was down to well-being than anything else. He jumped well, barring one mistake down the back, and most importantly he has come out of the race well and is bucking and kicking.

“He’s now rated 148 and I think he has very much earned his tilt at the Supreme and we'd like to think he ought to be competitive.”

Partnership Eyes New Chapter in Minehead Success Story

White has been a part of the Sandhill operation since he was 15 and, having had his riding aspirations dashed due to his height, soon became a trusted lieutenant who has helped oversee the preparations of many Hobbs Festival winners down the years.

However, having officially joined forces with a joint-licence, the duo are hopeful Sober Glory can now help write a new chapter in the story of the Minehead stable in a race Menorah captured for the yard in 2010.

White added: “It would be very special to get my first winner and any race would be special, but if we could win the Supreme it would be a nice start to the week.

“We’ve been fortunate enough to win it before and, ahead of the Festival, you are thinking if we can win just one race then we will be happy, but once you have one you want more and don’t want to settle – it’s a drug you can’t get enough of.

“Sober Glory is probably a bigger, stronger chasing type than previous horses we have run in the race and, at the beginning of the season, we were looking and thinking he would probably be running over two and a half miles by now.

“But he just shows plenty of speed both on the racecourse and in his work at home as well. He’s just a lovely horse to have, he’s straightforward, good-looking and has a lot of talent under the bonnet as well.”