Racing News: Our Conor set for summer break

Triumph Hurdle hero Our Conor will head off on his summer break after trainer Dessie Hughes opted to skip an intended run in Saturday's AES Champion Four Year Old Hurdle at Punchestown...

Favourite with some for next season's Champion Hurdle, Our Conor would have faced very testing conditions in the Grade One heat and Hughes was not keen to give his stable star a hard race.

With his stunning Cheltenham display still fresh in the memory, Our Conor, rated 165p by Timeform, will now enjoy a well-deserved holiday.

"It was very deep there yesterday, it's rained again and it will rain some more," said Hughes.

"There's no need to run him, he doesn't need to prove anything so he'll go out to grass now.

"I've no real plan for next year, I imagine he'll have a run on the Flat first somewhere.

"It's no coincidence that his best performance came at Cheltenham, which is the best ground he's raced on. His worst performance came at Listowel when he was well beaten by Inis Mean and that was the worst ground he'd raced on."

Hughes also had a bit of a setback regarding the Bet365 Gold Cup as Deal Done missed the cut for the big race.

The trainer added: "I declared Deal Done because he loves good ground and it will be nice at Sandown. He's gone over there but he didn't get in, it's only 20 runners now and it used to be 25."

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Triumph Hurdle Result: Dazzling Conor in cruise control

Our Conor put up an impressive display to run away with the Triumph Hurdle at Cheltenham...

Our Conor put up an impressive display to run away with the Triumph Hurdle at Cheltenham...

Never out of the first two, Dessie Hughes' youngster stretched his 100% record over jumps to four with an emphatic success. Ridden by Bryan Cooper, Our Conor bounded clear from the second-last to win unchallenged by 15 lengths from Far West with Sametegal a further two and a quarter lengths away in third.

Diakali, runner-up to Our Conor on their previous start, set a decent pace on the rain-softened ground with his old rival watching his every move. Other fancied horses Far West and Rolling Star were on their heels until Our Conor was sent about his business two out. Once Our Conor opened up, he left the field in his wake and had the race sewn up before the last.

Dessie Hughes, who was responsible for dual Champion Hurdle hero Hardy Eustace, said: "Everything went well and he jumped brilliant - he's a real one isn't he?"

"He is certainly a Champion Hurdle horse. He stays, he has foot and he jumps. The Champion Hurdle is all about jumping and he certainly does that."

Winning jockey Bryan Cooper said: "I've never had a feeling like that before in my life, I was there a mile too soon. I sat for as long as I could but nothing could come with me."

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