Brilliant Hermes delivers

HERMES ALLEN ran them ragged at Cheltenham to earn an 8-1 quote for the Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle at the National Hunt Festival next March.

The £350,000 point-topoint purchase, part-owned by former Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson, marked his debut among the professional ranks with a 27-length romp at Stratford last month.

Moving up to Grade 2 level for the Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle on the first day of Cheltenham’s November fixture, Hermes Allen made all the running under Harry Cobden to slam Music

Drive by nine lengths.

“Before he went to Stratford, he showed nothing at home

— then, in his last bit of work the other day, it was like two different horses!” said Hermes Allen’s in-form trainer Paul Nicholls (above).

“He is a proper horse. He made it the other day and I said to Harry, ‘They are fit and they are jumping, so there is no point in hanging on to him.’

“He has physically improved and clocked on to the way we train. He looks the best of our novices at the moment.”

Cobden added: “He gave me a fantastic feel and jumped very well.

“As soon as he got over the second-last, he pricked his ears, had a little look round, changed his legs — then he was gone!”