Conservative had his third run over hurdles last week at Newton Abbot where he finished fourth in the Class 4 Maiden Hurdle (14:10) over two miles and two and a half furlongs. 

The club's dual purpose five-year-old has been on a learning curve since first taking to obstacles in the middle of July, and in his three runs so far, we're pleased with the steady signs of improvement he's been showing.

On his hurdles debut at Worcester, Conservative finished sixth, after which trainer Joe Tizzard said "he's a bit of an enigma... but one I'm looking forward to cracking!", then next time out he came home in fifth place, and as we mentioned already, in his most recent start, he took another step forward with a fourth place finish. His jumping has without a doubt improved with each race, but it's been his unique running style which has caught the eye the most with him often hitting a flat spot about half way through his race, before then staying on strongly to pass some of his rivals in the final stages.

At Newton Abbot last Thursday, Conservative raced prominently in the pack, holding his own for the majority of the race amongst far more experienced horses in the field. His jumping was neat and tidy throughout, with him barely putting a foot wrong, but as they went over the fourth from home, you could see he'd began to hit his usual flat spot.

As he dropped back into fifth spot, the leading quartet began to pull away from the rest of the field, and as they turned for home, Conservative had fallen back even further into seventh or eighth place. Brendan kept him up to work, however, and as the pair battled down the home straight, he was able to stay on and hit the finishing line in fourth. That result meant Conservative landed his 10 lucky owners for the day £480 in prize money to share, but most importantly he finished the race safe and sound.

WATCH: Brendan Powell debrief following Conservative's fourth place finish at Newton Abbot

Having completed his third run under rules, Conservative was assessed on the basis of those three runs and today was given an opening handicap mark of 91 – one which the Tizzard team believe to be very fair.

Following the handicap reveal, this is what Joe Tizzard had to say:

"Conservative came out of his Newton Abbot race very well, at one stage it looked as if he was going to get left well behind, but he stayed on nicely, and with the first two home looking a cut above the rest, a fourth place finish was a decent result, and continued his progression.

We’ve been given an opening handicap mark of 91. I was expecting something between 90 and 95, so that looks very fair, and hopefully will be a nice starting point for him in handicaps. Brendan [Powell] and I both think he’s capable of winning the right race on what he’s shown us so far.

He’s well and ready to run, but realistically, the first opportunity that I like the look of for him is at Plumpton on Sunday 22nd September. It's a 0-100 handicap hurdle over two and a half miles, and I think the course will suit him very well, as will the extra couple of furlongs, and so it's worth waiting a few weeks for this race."

Keep an eye on the Coral Racing Club over the coming weeks for the chance to be one of Conservative's Owners for the Day for his handicap debut.