Silverburn seals Nicholls treble

Silverburn seemed to flourish in bad conditions

Silverburn gave Paul Nicholls his third Anglo Irish Bank Tolworth Hurdle with an impressive victory on heavy ground at Sandown on Saturday.

Ruby Walsh kept the 5-1 chance covered on the rail before taking over at the second-last fence and romping home ahead of favourite Perce Rock.

"We kept him for this race and he is improving physically," said Nicholls.

"He will be given two entries at Cheltenham as he is versatile and the ground will depend on where he goes."

My Turn Now was challenging until the final hurdle when his chances ended after a heavy fall.

Nicholls, who has recorded previous wins in the race were with Thisthatandtheother in 2003 and Noland in 2006, has high hopes for Silverburn.

"If the going is bottomless he could go to the Supreme, but longer term I think the race for him will be the two-and-a-half miler at Aintree," said the trainer.

"He will be a cracking novice chaser next year and he has already schooled well."