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The highly promising Bill Joyce (4/1) made most when winning the Betfair Winter Novices' Hurdle at Sandown.

Trained by AJ & Jonjo O'Neill at Jackdaws Castle, Bill Joyce's only defeat came in the Champion Bumper at the Cheltenham Festival and he took the step up from his hurdling bow to Grade 2 company in his stride.

Given a positive ride by Jonjo O'Neill Jr on the testing ground, he had most of his five rivals beaten approaching the last with only Quebecois - who had finished one place behind Bill Joyce at The Festival in March - a danger.

Quebecois began to flounder as Bill Joyce ploughed on in the testing conditions, winning by five lengths with 23 lengths back to the third.

The winning jockey said: "He was a little keen so I allowed him to stride on a little bit down the hill and he actually idled then and I was able to fill him right up down the back and turning in. A relentless galloper. He jumped very well on the whole today. He was looking for a bit of company after the last but it read to me like a fair race on paper and I think it will probable end up being.

"He is very exciting, we've always liked him."

AJ O'Neill added: "Just for him to win there's a great deal of satisfaction, it doesn't really matter how he does it.

"He's a lovely horse, a big strong horse, a chaser in the making and anything he does now is just a bonus. With a bit of free rein he gets into a nice rhythm and just strides out and keeps galloping."

Racing TV Interviewer Rishi Persad drew a blank when asking about future plans ('a staying chaser in the making' the initial response) and after a couple of attempts changed tack to ask where Bill Joyce ranked in the stable's prospects.

"He's definitely one that we're excited about," came the reply.

Pauling celebrates with Handstands

Nicholls and the O'Neills had to settle for minor honours in the day's other Grade 2, the Betfair Esher Novices' Chase, with Welcome To Cartries and Saint Davy finishing fourth and third respectively.

Both were patiently ridden in the three mile contest whereas Handstands (5/2) was in a share of the lead throughout. The field closed up coming out of The Railway Fences (as the other prominent racer Cadell weakened) but Ben Jones had clearly saved a little and kicked Handstands on after negotiating The Pond Fence.

Thereon in, the race looked in safe keeping barring mishaps at either of the final two fences. Handstands safely negotiated both obstacles and kept on well to win by three and a half lengths from 11/8 favourite Resplendent Grey who was last of the quintet for much of the contest and appeared to run in snatches.

Handstands had fallen on his chase debut in the Grade 2 Rising Stars at Wincanton but trainer Ben Pauling had made no secret of the confidence he retained in his decent prospect and he was understandably delighted.

"He's got natural speed but we hoped he'd stay three miles as well," he said.

"So coming here on rain-softened ground was going to tell us that. He had not made a mistake at home. He was an okay hurdler, he wasn't one that you were going to say would be an outright chaser but the second he schooled over fences, he was electric.

"At Wincanton they just went so quick, they were being led a merry dance by Soul Icon and it just had him out of his comfort zone early enough and I didn't think he was beat when he fell but that looked like a tired fall at the time but he's got plenty of heart and I still think he would have given them a run for their money.

"This lad looked like he stayed very well there. The Jukebox Man looked like he had electric speed the other day so we might not need to go as far with The Jukebox Man but we're not Willie Mullins, we're not going to run them against each other in a hurry and that will need a bit of working out and see where we go with each of them.

"We've got some nice horses but we need them to remain. We can't have them fall out the back of the pack and hopefully they're not at the moment. We'll see how he comes out of today and see where we go next.

"For this lad to go to Cheltenham, he would have to be almost the standout in everyone's minds. We're not afraid to sidestep Cheltenham and look somewhere else with this lad. Cheltenham isn't the be all and end all for the Radfords [owners], it never has been. If he progresses and continues in the same form, it will be a nice problem to have about where they go at the end of it."

Handstands was introduced at 40/1 by Betfair Sportsbook for the Brown Advisory Novices' Chase at Cheltenham in March.

Tempest brings up century for Skelton

Mount Tempest (6/4 favourite) provided Dan Skelton with his one hundredth winner of the season when holding Intimate at arm's length in the Best Odds On The Betfair Exchange Handicap Chase.

Mount Tempest won the same race in 2023 but had to defy top-weight and an 8lb higher mark this time around to the delight of his trainer.

"I'd rather train them than ride them, I was out of breath watching it so fair play to Harry [Skelton, jockey]," the trainer said.

"He just holds a bit up his sleeve. He's a big horse so he was always going to get a little bit better as he got older. It was a nice run the other day at Bangor over slightly too far; we had to get his season started. He loves it round here.

"I won't say it's better than we've ever had because numerically......but in terms of quality it's the best we've had by some stretch. We did have a very good year four or five years ago when we reached 200 at the end of the year and hit 100 by the end of October; thinking about that now I don't know how we did that.

"We decided we needed to get out a bit earlier this year and try and set up a stall which the team have done but it's a long way to be back here the last day of the season which is obviously in the back of our minds.

"It's great to have the horses to run; you don't want to get carried away and build the season up to one day, those things will happen if you keep doing the right things.

"It's great to go racing with the team we have at the moment, owners are great, they're enjoying it, horses are running well and there's lots to look forward to."

Skelton didn't have to wait long for winner 101 as Hoe Joly Smoke (9/4 favourite) completed a double for trainer and rider in the Bet At Your Best With Betfair Handicap Chase.

Jupiter Du Gite opened up a commanding advantage in the three mile contest but the field had closed up in the home straight with Hoe Joly Smoke in front jumping the last and he ran on well to win by four and a half lengths from Passing Well.

No Fuss!

Hot Fuss (4/9 favourite) justified his cramped odds with the minimum of fuss in the Daily Tips On Betting.Betfair 'Introductory' Juvenile Hurdle. Second to the well regarded East India Dock on his hurdling debut, Hot Fuss had no problem going one better under a positive ride from David Bass, beating Galactic Charm by three and a half lengths.

Trainer Tom Dascombe hopes that Hot Fuss will prove good enough to line-up at the spring festivals and the next likely step for the Calyx gelding is a trip to Chepstow for the Finale Hurdle after Christmas.

"I've been told I've got to say I'm delighted, so I'm delighted," joked Dascombe.

"It was very soft ground which we know he likes, David gave him a lovely ride. Chepstow is the obvious stepping stone if he won today and then depending how we get on there we're going to have the classic Cheltenham or Aintree but we'll worry about that in a minute."

Bass added: "Great attitude. I really liked him at Wincanton, I went to school him a couple of days ago and Tom said he was in really good form; he jumped a few hurdles by himself and he absolutely winged them. It was all very straightforward today."

Boy dazzles in finale

Nicholls and Gary Moore, now training in partnership with son Josh, had won five of the last 10 renewals of the Betfair Racing Podcasts Novices' Handicap Hurdle and their runners dominated the betting but had to settle for minor honours.

Both were still in contention approaching the last before Fasol and Razzle Dazzle Boy (15/2) pulled clear on landing. Fasol appeared to get his head in front on the climb to the line but Razzle Dazzle Boy proved the stronger, battling back to win by a neck with Authentic Legacy two and a half lengths adrift in third.

The winner was trained by Tim Vaughan and ridden by Alan Johns.

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