Six-Figure Son Of Getaway Impresses On Rules Debut

Handstands (4g Getaway - Wattle Bridge, by King’s Theatre) emerged as a smart recruit for Ben Pauling when running out an impressive winner of Saturday’s Novices’ Hurdle at Hereford.

The son of Getaway sold for £135,000 following his debut win for Patrick Turley and was well-supported to make a winning rules debut in the colours of Tim Radford. Racing prominently under Ben Jones, he was pushed along to lead on the turn for home and kept on well to win by six and a half lengths. The favourite, a dual winner under rules, claimed runners-up honours and finished 17 lengths clear of the remainder.

“He's a really nice, straightforward horse,” Pauling said after the race. “He doesn't do anything overly flash, but just does it very nicely at the same time. We hope this can be a nice starting point. We'll find another novice race under a penalty somewhere else next to see if we can think about better things.”

Handstands was bred by Brendan and Mary Fitzpatrick, who sold him through Ballintry Stud as a foal for €75,000.