Grade Two mission looms for Eva’s Oskar

Vaughan’s improved hurdler will head to Doncaster or Haydock.

Tim Vaughan is considering Grade Two options at Doncaster and Haydock for promising second-season novice hurdler Eva’s Oskar.

The Welsh trainer has earmarked the River Don Novices’ Hurdle at Doncaster on January 25 and the Prestige Novices’ Hurdle at Haydock three weeks later as possible targets for the improving six-year-old.

Eva’s Oskar made it four wins from five starts this season when bouncing back from defeat at Cheltenham with an impressive performance at Chepstow over Christmas.

Vaughan said: “Eva’s Oskar is absolutely flying at home. If I’m happy with him we will aim for the River Don at Doncaster, and that has been pencilled in at the moment.

“It depends what is in it – if he is massively wrong at the weights we may look at going for the Prestige at Haydock, and that is the other option.

“He wants cut in the ground, I think – and he will only have one or two more runs, I would imagine, this season.”

Eva’s Oskar has tasted defeat just once this campaign, yet Vaughan feared he was not going to progress after making a lacklustre debut at Chepstow in 2018.

He said: “I’ve always liked him – and when I sold him to the owners I thought he was going to be a star, because he worked a treat. (But) then he finished almost last on his first start, and I thought ‘how have I got it wrong?’.

“We got him handicapped and we went to Newbury (last spring) to see how he would get on – and his form just clicked, and he finished second.

“I think he will be a lovely chaser next season, but it is nice to have a genuine runner in one of these Grade Two events.”

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