Punchestown

"We've all had our opinions on how he should be ridden. Mark [Walsh] just said he'd rather do what he wanted to do at Leopardstown and it worked like a dream. That was fantastic and I'd imagine if Mark can repeat that performance, he's going to run a fantastic race at Cheltenham. 12-02-26"

"What a wonderful horse! He began his season in the now usual manner, by winning the Listed hurdle at Kempton for the third year running. It was disappointing the feat merited little more than a passing mention in the press. We'll now seek to continue following a well-worn path and look at the Elite at Wincanton on Saturday, a race he has also won for the last two years. Alternatively, he could switch to the Haldon Gold Cup a day earlier if the ground at Exeter came up too fast for Kalif Du Berlais. His chasing career, which I'd long looked forward to, had been delayed last season because he was doing so well over hurdles, mopping up those Grade 2 prizes with regularity. He finally got to jump fences in public at Christmas when outclassed behind Sir Gino. We then lowered his sights and he gave L'Eau Du Sud a fright in the Kingmaker before winning the Grade 2 Pendil, a contest we love to target. That victory, over 2m4f, gives us more options for this season, as does the fact he coped surprisingly well with the soft ground at Warwick and Kempton. Whatever happens later this week, it will be fences after that and we'll look for a valuable pot on a flat, right-handed track - something at Ascot would suit ideally. In January, the Grade 2 Silviniaco Conti Chase over two and a half miles is another decent prize I'd consider. He's so tough and consistent that I have no doubt he'll be adding to his tally. 04-11-25"