Newcastle reverse no disaster for exciting prospect Oscar Rock

Oscar Rock was an 8/1 chance for the Neptune Investment Management Novices’ Hurdle before his defeat at Newcastle on Saturday; he is now 12/1.

There had been plenty of hype about the horse prior to his hurdling debut at Wetherby and he justified the talk with an impressive performance on his first run for Malcolm Jefferson.

However the bubble was deflated slightly at the weekend as the former Harry Fry-trained horse was beaten at odds of 4/9.

Everything seemed to be going to plan as the five-year-old moved smoothly into the lead with three hurdles to jump.

But Ian Williams’ Ballyalton soon challenged and, despite battling hard in the final quarter of a mile, Oscar Rock went down by half a length.

Bet on Oscar Rock to win the Neptune Novices’ Hurdle at 12/1

The winner is owned by John Westwood – bought for him by his golfing son Lee – and has won four of his five starts to date.

An exciting prospect in his own right, the form looks strong with the pair well clear of the rest.

Interestingly, Oscars Rock received the following report from his owner Graham Calder.

He said: “Brian [Hughes, jockey] said the ground was just a bit quick for him as he was changing his legs in the straight. If he’d jumped the second-last quicker you never know what might have happened.

“We might look at the Challow [Hurdle] next, it’s likely to be softer.”

Two of Oscar Rock’s three wins have come at Newbury

Oscar Rock’s jumping has not been foot perfect in his two runs over obstacles, as he made a fairly serious error at the final flight at Wetherby.

As alluded to by Calder, his jump at the second-last hurdle on Saturday was not as fluent as that of the winner.