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Tallyho Twinkletoe turned jumping potential into prestige race performance when he demolished his more experienced rivals in the Grand National Hurdles.

The Kevin Myers-trained five-year-old marked his fourth appearance over the smaller fences with a powerhouse display to triumph in Wednesday’s Hospitality NZ-sponsored feature at Riccarton.

With a revised game plan, Tallyho Twinkletoe strode to the front 800 metres from home and forged clear under rider Mathew Gillies for an effortless victory.

“He’s just a class animal and well done to everyone at Team Myers,” Gillies said. “Kevin told me they weren’t making any ground from the back and to look to attack earlier.

“The horse wanted to do it himself and he just ran away from them.”

Tallyho Twinkletoe romped home by seven and a half lengths from Paul Nelson’s Kings Deep and the Ken Duncan-trained pair of Wee Biskit and Shamal.

“He’s a pretty talented little horse and even though he bashed the last, he got away with it,” stable foreman Ken Harrison said.

His son Simon shares in the ownership of Tallyho Twinkletoe with stable employee and former top jumps jockey Jo Rathbone and Dave MacNab.

“Jo and my son have done a lot of work with him,” Harrison said. “He’s an up and coming horse and there’s a lot to look forward to with him, maybe Australia next year.”

Part-owner MacNab is a former successful amateur rider, and his son Scott is now following that lead, and administrator whose roles have included the presidency of the Wanganui Jockey Club.

He also made his mark as a trainer and prepared Young Pirate, a Group One performer in New Zealand who won the Listed Duke of Norfolk Stakes at Flemington in 1993 before he was unplaced later that year behind the Irish raider Vintage Crop in the Gr.1 Melbourne Cup.