At Fontwell on Saturday two horses from the yard had their first runs for some time on good ground at the Sussex track. In a Novices' Hurdle Chris van Hoorn's five year old mare ran under Nico de Boinville and finished in fourth, beaten just seven lengths. He will have taught her quite a bit for this outing, where her hurdling improved into the second half of the race and she stayed on steadily beyond two miles. This will have been a better experience than on the heavy ground last January, and Nico liked the way she performed and she certainly has the potential to win a hurdle in the near future. Sheila's Spirit ran in his third bumper, the last race on the card, after a very long break from his two outings last autumn. He was held up at the rear by jockey Jonny Burke and had a good bit of ground to make up after two miles, but he stayed on very well to pass four including the favourite inside the final furlong. Ultimately he was placed fourth and beaten just twelve lengths, so with anticipated further progress he may soon find a winning opportunity.