Headstrong jumper Danever put himself back in contention for Australia's premier jumps race with a dominant win in the Redleap Steeplechase at Sandown.Danever has been a source of major frustration for his connections but was on his best behaviour on Wednesday when he sustained a strong run from last to score an easy 2-1/4 length victory over pacemaker Its A Dud in the 3400m event.Trainer David Hayes said getting Danever to relax had been the key but he was more hopeful than confident that the t

Headstrong jumper Danever put himself back in contention for Australia's premier jumps race with a dominant win in the Redleap Steeplechase at Sandown.

Danever has been a source of major frustration for his connections but was on his best behaviour on Wednesday when he sustained a strong run from last to score an easy 2-1/4 length victory over pacemaker Its A Dud in the 3400m event.

Trainer David Hayes said getting Danever to relax had been the key but he was more hopeful than confident that the time he had invested in the five-year-old would pay off for his steeplechase debut.

"Up until today I wasn't sure that it was working but now I think it has," Hayes said.

"The bigger jumps have slowed him up a bit and while he is respecting them and standing off them a bit we will keep persisting."

Danever has always promised a lot but for most of his career has come up short of expectations.

He won on the flat as a two and three-year-old but failed to train on after finishing fourth to Efficient in the 2006 Victoria Derby.

His jumps career got off to a brilliant start when he scored impressively at his hurdle debut at Flemington but at his next three jumps starts he lost his rider in the Australian Hurdle and failed to finish in both the Grand National Hurdle and this year's Yalumba Hurdle at Oakbank.

"He has given us two years of frustration since his Derby year but he has won so nicely at his steeplechase debut we will take on the big boys next time." Hayes said.

He said his test would be the Australian Steeplechase (3900m) at Sandown on June 13.

"That will tell us whether he is a stayer or not," Hayes said.

Danever has won just four of his 36 starts but Hayes believes he still has the potential to win a Group race on the flat.

"I haven't given up on him as a flat horse," Hayes said.

"I reckon we will do this steeple season and give him a spell and bring him back as a flat horse.

"I think he is an Easter Cup-class horse but if he starts learning to relax then he will make very good mile and a half (2400m) horse."

Meanwhile, lightly-raced jumper Yamanaura earned a crack at the Australian Hurdle (3400m) on June 13 when he surprised jockey Brett Scott with his tenacity to win Wednesday's Winterset Hurdle (3300m).

Trained by John Wheeler, he brought up his second hurdle win in four jumps starts when fighting off Juan Carlos to score by three-quarters of a length.

"I didn't know how to line him up with this field because he's a rising six-year-old and only had a handful of jumps starts," said Scott, who is also Wheeler's stable foreman.

"I thought if he could run a nice place I would be happy but he showed a lot of guts to win.

"There's a fair bit of improvement there and it's onwards and upwards from here."