Gary Moore is looking forward to seeing how much of an impact Mondo Man can make in Saturday's Adonis Juvenile Hurdle at Kempton.
The highly-rated Flat recruit raced freely before sticking on to finish second behind Lulamba on his UK debut at Ascot last month and could face the same Nicky Henderson-trained rival who is among the 10 possible runners in this weekend's Ladbrokes-backed Grade 2 contest.
Reflecting on the Ascot run on Wednesday's Nick Luck Daily Podcast, Moore said: "I was obviously disappointed as I am when any horse gets beat, but there were a few things to throw into the equation; there was the fact that we'd had a bit of a freeze-up weather-wise, he didn't go quite as fit as I'd have liked him to have gone there.
"Then, obviously, I didn't expect him to pull like he did as he doesn't pull at home. You can ride him quite easily at home."
Moore has a few tricks up his sleeve in a bid to counter the early eagerness on this occasion, with the trainer considering fitting a hood on his charge.
"Since then (Ascot) we've changed a few things which will hopefully make him a better ride at Kempton," he said. "He'll have a cross-noseband on that he didn't have on last time. I'm also toying with a hood, we might put a hood on him, and he'll run in a three-ring snaffle which means you've got a bit more leverage."
Moore - who now trains alongside son Josh who shares a joint-licence with his father - has had plenty of quality juvenile hurdlers over the years, including Goshen who memorably unseated rider at the final flight with the 2020 Triumph Hurdle at Cheltenham at his mercy.
The yard were also responsible for last year's third and Moore has compared Mondo Man favourably, saying: "Salver was third in the Triumph last year, and he (Mondo Man) would show a lot more speed than him at home.
"Whether he'd stay like him, I don't know. But he's a pretty good work horse as you would expect of a horse rated 110 on the Flat.
"He loves his jumping too and really enjoys it. It was always at the back of my mind, 'will this horse make a jumper?' Just with his pedigree and things, but he enjoys it and his jumping was good at Ascot, apart from the second-last which he got a bit wrong."
As for the opposition, Moore is anticipating a possible clash with another Henderson hope, the former German Classic winner Palladium, who made a winning start to life over hurdles himself at Huntingdon last month.
Moore said: "I can't see Nicky running two in the race, will he run Lulamba at Kempton? I can't see that happening. The one thing I felt was that Kempton is a speed track and I'm hoping Kempton is going to suit him (Mondo Man) a bit more than Ascot did."
Mondo Man is a 20/1 chance with Sky Bet (NRNB) for the JCB Triumph Hurdle at Cheltenham.
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