Course experience is backed to be Broadway Boy’s key asset after connections elected to take their chance in a red-hot Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase at the Cheltenham Festival.
Willie Mullins’ impressive Dublin Racing Festival scorer Fact To File is the odds-on favourite for the Grade One event which could also feature previous Festival winner Stay Away Fay and highly-regarded Irish novice Montys Star.
However, the Broadway Boy team feel their top-notch staying prospect has the class to make his mark in a race that trainer Nigel Twiston-Davies has won twice in the past and in which big-race jockey Sam Twiston-Davies won 12 months ago aboard The Real Whacker.
“He will be going for the Brown Advisory,” said Willy Twiston-Davies, who in his role as assistant to his father, plays a key part in readying the David Proos-owned six-year-old.
“The owner came down yesterday and we had a good chat, we both said what we thought and he was very keen for Sam to ride him so that’s the way we decided to go.
“Blaklion and Young Hustler have both won it and of course Sam won the race last year on The Real Whacker, so lets hope we can do it again.”
Despite the stiff opposition, the Twiston-Davies team have never shirked a challenge and Broadway Boy has already advertised his liking of Prestbury Park by winning three of his four outings at the track.
His sole defeat came at the hands of Flooring Porter early in his fencing career, but since then he has downed quality opposition – firstly in a Listed event at the November meeting before returning to see off Grand National hopeful Threeunderthrufive and one-time Gold Cup third Protektorat in December.
Twiston-Davies added: “We believe in our horse and although it looks a good renewal of the Brown Advisory and Fact To File has looked very good, we’ve got very decent course form, he tries very hard and he has a bit of class. Hopefully he will run really well.
“He loves it round Cheltenham and he’s in very good order. His piece of form at Cheltenham at the December meeting sticks out and a lot of novices haven’t reached that level that he has, so we’re very much looking forward to running him.”
Emma Lavelle is ready to let Paisley Park go out in a blaze of glory if he can win a second Paddy Power Stayers’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival next week.
It is five years since the veteran claimed the Grade One contest and while he disappointed when bidding for back-to-back wins 12 months later, he finished third in both 2021 and 2022.
It looked as though his best days were behind him when only seventh in last year’s renewal, but he has defied his advancing years with three excellent runs this winter, finishing second in the Long Distance Hurdle, the Long Walk and the Cleeve Hurdle, beaten a head, a short head and a head respectively.
There would be few more popular winners at this year’s Festival than Paisley Park if he can take back his crown on Thursday week and Lavelle could not be happier with his condition.
“Touch wood he’s in very good form, everything has gone to plan with him. He’s in really good order and it’s all systems go for Cheltenham,” she told talkSPORT.
“It’s a massive ask for a 12-year-old, but he’s not your everyday 12-year-old, so who knows?
“I look through the race and I think there’s a lot of horses in there that we’ve met, that we’ve beaten or have just beaten us. There are a couple of new Irish pretenders, (but) I just kind of feel in that race anything can happen.
“It has leant itself over the years to the hardened professional, rather than it being the upcoming young gun that’s done it.
“It puts him there with chance and fingers crossed – he knows his way round there!”
While Lavelle feels Paisley Park is still loving life at a racehorse, she admits it would be a fitting way for him retire if he was to strike gold on return to Prestbury Park.
She added: “If he won it there’d be no question you’d say ‘that’s it’, because I think it would be an extraordinary beginning and end to his career that way having won it five years previous, to come back and do it again would be an extraordinary achievement.
“It seems funny to say you’d retire a horse if it won but you wouldn’t necessarily retire it if it didn’t, but the reality is you’re a long time retired in this game for a horse – he’s 12, but loving what he’s doing
“If it’s the right thing to stop we will and if it’s not and he’s still loving it and seems happy back in work at the start of next season then I’ll probably bring him back for another run, because no horse keeps going for the number of years that he has if it’s not something he enjoys doing.
“He writes his own script, he doesn’t let anyone else do it for him. We’ll let the horse make the decision, he’s the one out there doing it and we’re all just bowing to his greatness.”
Willie Mullins is responsible for nine of the 15 horses confirmed for the Sky Bet Supreme Novices’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival on Tuesday.
The most successful trainer in Festival history has won the traditional curtain-raiser on seven occasions and again holds a very strong hand, with his potential squad headed by ante-post favourite Ballyburn.
Tullyhill and Mystical Power are also prominent in the market and it will be interesting to see how Mullins shuffles his pack, with both Ballyburn and Mystical Power having the option of running in the newly-named Gallagher Novices’ Hurdle the following afternoon.
Anotherway, Asian Master, Gold Dancer, Ile Atlantique, Mistergif and Supersundae are the other Mullins inmates who have stood their ground for the Supreme, with the majority holding alternative engagements.
Gordon Elliott’s Firefox, who beat Ballyburn earlier in the season, is another leading contender from Ireland, with Henry de Bromhead’s Slade Steel and Paul Gilligan’s Kings Hill other possible raiders.
The three British-trained hopefuls are Alan King’s Favour And Fortune, Nicky Henderson’s Jeriko Du Reponet and Tellherthename from Ben Pauling’s yard.
The My Pension Expert Arkle Challenge Trophy has a distinctly more open look to it, despite the fact five of the 15 remaining contenders are based at Closutton.
That quintet includes Irish Arkle hero Il Etait Temps, Hunters Yarn, Gaelic Warrior and Facile Vega, while Found A Fifty (Elliott) and Quilixios (De Bromhead) are also well fancied. The pick of the home team looks to be Joe Tizzard’s JPR One.
The Tizzard-trained Eldorado Allen heads the weights for the Ultima Handicap Chase, for which 43 are still in the mix, with Meetingofthewaters a likely favourite to give Mullins a first ever handicap chase win at the Festival.
Ireland’s perennial champion trainer also appears to hold all the aces in the Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle, with odds-on shot Lossiemouth the star attraction in a 13-strong field that also includes her stablemates Ashroe Diamond, Echoes In Rain, Gala Marceau and Zenta. Marie’s Rock (Nicky Henderson) and Love Envoi (Harry Fry) look the two most likely to give the Mullins battalion something to think about.
Leading fancies Lark In The Mornin (Joseph O’Brien), Batman Girac (Mullins) and French challenger Milan Tino (Noel George and Amanda Zetterholm) are among 43 going forward for the Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle, while just 10 are in contention for the Maureen Mullins National Hunt Chase.
The two at the top of the betting are fittingly trained by two members of the Mullins family, with Maureen’s son Willie set to saddle Embassy Gardens and grandson Emmet responsible for Corbetts Cross.
Nicky Henderson may be without Constitution Hill in the Unibet Champion Hurdle but is still set to be double-handed after deciding to supplement Iberico Lord for the Cheltenham Festival showpiece.
The reigning champion was ruled out on Monday due to a respiratory infection, which has prompted a rethink from Henderson and owner JP McManus on the Cotswolds target for Iberico Lord.
Winner of the Greatwood and Betfair Hurdles, the six-year-old had been among the leading lights for Friday’s County Hurdle – but Constitution Hill’s absence combined with the possibility of testing ground on the opening day will see him switched to the main event.
McManus has paid the £18,000 supplementary fee and Iberico Lord will now join stablemate Luccia, winner of Ascot’s Betfair Exchange Trophy when last seen, in the Champion Hurdle line-up.
In a statement on X, Henderson said: “We have decided to supplement Iberico Lord this morning for the Unibet Champion Hurdle.
“He is obviously a very progressive young hurdler that keeps improving having won both the Greatwood and the Betfair handicaps. He loves soft ground which it seems that it might well be on Tuesday and therefore possibly not so soft on Friday when he was originally intended to run in the County.
“Obviously with the unfortunate defection of Constitution Hill, the race has a different complexion and so he is due to join Luccia in the line-up.”
(NB: The Nations League semi-finals will be broadcast live on Sportsmax)
Reggae Boyz head coach Heimer Halgrimsson has openly expressed his keen interest in inviting Manchester United forward Mason Greenwood to join Jamaica's national football team. Greenwood, currently on loan at Getafe, faces limited prospects for an England call-up ahead of Euro 2024, paving the way for potential international representation elsewhere.
The 22-year-old, who earned a single cap for England against Iceland in September 2020, found himself on loan at Getafe after Manchester United deemed it necessary for him to continue his career away from the club.
The decision followed the dropping of charges, including attempted rape, engaging in controlling and coercive behavior, and assault occasioning actual bodily harm, all of which Greenwood denied, by the Crown Prosecution Service in February 2023.
Eligible to play for Jamaica through his father, Andrew, Greenwood's potential representation for the Caribbean nation has been a topic of discussion, with reports suggesting the Jamaican Football Federation (JFF) is open to the idea. According to current FIFA rules, the Manchester United academy graduate would be within his rights to change his international allegiance.
Speaking at a CONCACAF Nations League press conference in Dallas on Tuesday, Hallgrimsson confirmed the ongoing discussions about Greenwood's potential inclusion in the Reggae Boyz squad. "I really don't like to talk about 'what if,' but this, of course, has come to our mind," the coach said.
"I would love to have him in my team. Like all coaches, I would like to have the best players in our team, but it's always up to the player himself if he wants to do it," added Hallgrimsson, highlighting the player's autonomy in making such a significant decision regarding his international career.
Jamaica plays the USA on March 21, 2024.
The Betfair Imperial Cup Handicap Hurdle could prove a more than suitable alternative to the Cheltenham Festival for connections of Go Dante, who are weighing up a shot at the valuable Sandown prize.
As well as his ticket to Saturday’s Sandown feature, Olly Murphy’s Betfair Hurdle third holds entries in both the Country Hurdle and Martin Pipe races at Prestbury Park the following week.
However, with the eight-year-old not certain to make the final line-up for those events in the Cotswolds, the Warren Chase handler is seriously considering a trip to Esher for the prestigious £100,000 contest, with Go Dante a 7-1 chance with the sponsors.
Murphy said: “It’s certainly something we are looking at. Ideally, we would have liked to have got into a Cheltenham handicap but that doesn’t look like happening, so the Imperial Cup looks the most likely race we will take our chance in.
“He’s in good form and had a very good run in the Betfair. I think soft ground and a stiff two miles at Sandown should suit him well.
“He’s got two entries at Cheltenham next week and it’s a case of looking at where he’s most likely to get in and making the right decision, but we’re certainly looking at Sandown on Saturday.”
Similar sentiments apply to Oliver Greenall and Josh Guerriero’s Making Headway, who also has a couple of options at the Cheltenham Festival but has connections leaning towards a crack at the Imperial Cup.
An impressive winner from the front in heavy ground at Newbury last month, it could be ground conditions once again that ultimately decide if the six-year-old’s team roll the dice or hold fire in case they make the cut in either the Coral Cup or Martin Pipe at Prestbury Park.
“I think he will (go to the Imperial Cup), as long as it doesn’t dry out too much,” said Greenall. “He will definitely want it no quicker than good to soft or soft – it looks a nice opportunity for him.
“He’s not guaranteed to get in at Cheltenham and we were going to go for the good novice race at Kelso (Premier Novices’ Hurdle) but that looked quite hot and there was a couple we didn’t want to take on.”
Ben Pauling’s recent Huntingdon scorer Jipcot currently heads the market, with the in-form handler also responsible for narrow Ascot runner-up Bad amongst the 23 in the mix for Saturday’s contest.
Owen Burrows is considering the Greenham Stakes at Newbury as a potential stepping-stone to the Qipco 2000 Guineas for his exciting colt Alyanaabi.
The son of Too Darn Hot won two of his four starts as a juvenile, including the Group Three Tattersalls Stakes at Newmarket, and rounded off his campaign by finishing best of the rest behind star two-year-old City Of Troy in the Dewhurst in October.
While City Of Troy is odds-on to provide trainer Aidan O’Brien with an 11th victory in the season’s first Classic on the Rowley Mile, Alyanaabi is available at 25-1 and Burrows is keen to at least give him the opportunity to advertise his Guineas credentials this spring.
He said: “I’m very pleased with him, he’s done well (over the winter) and we’ve just started faster work with him, so all good.
“We might give him a run (in a Guineas trial), if he goes anywhere he’ll probably go to the Greenham at Newbury. It just sort of makes sense as it’s just up the road for us and luckily he had a couple of runs at Newmarket last year, so he handles the Rowley Mile well by the look of it.
“We’re a long way off and like most people, we’ve not been able to do much on the grass as yet. It would be nice for it to dry out a little bit so we can get a bit of work on the grass into him, but we’re happy that he might just go to Newbury and have a run before the Guineas.
“City Of Troy is the standout at the minute, but you can’t run away from one and we’d like to think that we’ll be up there with a few of the others, so we shall see.”
The Lambourn handler has also entered Futurity Trophy fourth Deira Mile for the 2000 Guineas, but his bid for Classic glory may have to wait until later in the year.
“I’ll be honest, I’ve got him in the English Derby and the French and the Irish (Derbys) and we’ve just put him in the Guineas in case for whatever reason he doesn’t stay,” Burrows added.
“I’d be amazed if he doesn’t because that’s all he did in the Futurity and obviously that was over a mile in heavy ground.
“The Guineas entry is just a speculative entry, but the owner was happy to cover all bases and he’s going to be treated like a Derby horse, who will start over a mile and a quarter at the beginning of April and then we’d be expecting to hopefully look at a Derby trial with him after that.”
7venz Media Agency has proudly announced the signing of Jamaican high jumper Romaine Beckford, adding an extraordinary talent to their roster of exceptional athletes. This collaboration signifies a momentous stride in the agency's commitment to supporting athletes both on and off the track, propelling them toward unparalleled success.
Romaine Beckford has emerged as a rising star within the track and field community, showcasing an impressive track record coupled with an unwavering determination to excel. The partnership with 7venz Media Agency signifies the agency's dedication to empowering athletes to reach their pinnacle.
Khimani Clarke, the CEO of 7venz Media Agency, expressed his enthusiasm about welcoming Romaine to their prestigious roster that also includes global championship medalists Danielle Williams, Wayne Pinnock, Hansle Parchment and Briana Williams.
"Romaine's dedication, passion, and remarkable achievements embody the values we hold dear," said Clarke. "Our team is committed to providing tailored support, guidance, and expertise to help him soar to new heights, both on the track and in his personal brand."
The collaboration will see 7venz Media Agency working closely with Romaine to craft a comprehensive brand strategy, harnessing his unique story and accomplishments to create a lasting impact. The agency will also focus on securing partnerships and collaborations that align with Romaine's values and aspirations.
Excitement radiated from Romaine Beckford as he expressed his enthusiasm for the collaboration. "I am excited to partner with 7venz Media Agency," Beckford shared. "Their passion, expertise, and commitment to athlete empowerment are a great look. I am confident that together, we will achieve great things and inspire others to do the same."
With Romaine Beckford on board, 7venz Media Agency continues to cement its status as a trailblazer in the sports marketing industry. Prioritizing athlete-centric values and innovative strategies, the agency is poised to redefine the landscape of sports brand development
In a thrilling display of dominance, Slingerz FC secured a resounding 4-1 victory over Fruta Conquerors in the second week of action in Guyana's KFC Elite League. The match, which unfolded on Tuesday night at the National Training Centre, was another demonstration of the prowess and potential of Slingerz FC, but coach Alex Thomas insists that his team has yet to hit their peak.
Darren Niles emerged as a star for Slingerz FC, netting two goals, while Leo Lovell and Jeremy Garrett each contributed one to seal the comprehensive victory. Despite Dwayne Jones managing to pull one back for Fruta Conquerors, the defeat marked their second consecutive loss of the season.
Slingerz FC, under the guidance of Jamaican coach Alex Thomas, celebrated their second win in as many starts this season. Thomas, who took over the team in February following Charles Pollard's departure, has been steering his squad to success. Their impressive campaign began with a commanding 7-0 triumph over Monedderlust FC on February 25.
However, despite the early triumphs and a goal tally of 11 for and only one against in two matches, Coach Thomas believes there is still room for improvement. In a post-match interview with Sportsmax.TV, he stated, "The team’s performance tonight was average. We didn’t play up to expectations. Nevertheless, we came out on top."
Thomas acknowledged that the players are gradually understanding his coaching philosophy and instructions. He expressed satisfaction with their progress but emphasized the need for continuous improvement, particularly in the mental aspect of the game.
Slingerz FC currently holds the second position in the league with a perfect six points, trailing Western Tigers FC on goal difference. The latter secured a 4-0 victory over Ann’s Grove United FC on Sunday. The Guyana Defence Force is also at the top with six points after a convincing 6-1 win against Buxton United SC.
In another match on Tuesday night, Den Amstel SC clinched their first win of the season with a narrow 1-0 victory over Santos FC.
Trinidad and Tobago's Head coach Angus Eve was pleased that they achieved their objective from the two-match friendly series against Jamaica, but expressed that the overall fitness of local players require significant improvements to meet international standards.
Eve's sentiments came after a goalless stalemate between his Soca Warriors and their Reggae Boyz counterparts in the second contest at the Larry Gomes Stadium, on Sunday. Jamaica won the first game at the Hasely Crawford Stadium 1-0 courtesy of a Kahiem Dixon strike.
While he singled out players such as Adrian Foncette, Rhondel Gibson, Kai Moos and central defenders Jamal Jack and Robert Primus as standout performers over the two matches, Eve, who gifted debut caps to seven players, pointed out that getting the local-based players to the desired standard remains a work in progress.
"Everything you do is about stages. Everything about life is stages. Every time you go up a level, the work is more intense. Every time you go up a different level, it means you have to be more prepared," Eve said in the post-match press conference.
"We have to look at what the international standards are and we have to work harder to get the players fitter so they will be ready to play sharper and faster. The football now is more athletic. Jamaica's coach, Heimir Hallgrimsson, is saying the league in Jamaica is too slow. I find the same thing here," he added.
Still, with the friendlies aiding in his charge to gauge players, Eve is now in a better position to identify his final squad for their crucial Copa America qualifying playoff contest against Canada on March 23.
"Sometimes people ask for players to get opportunities, and these are the opportunities we have given to them over these two matches. You get to see who could stand up to physicality and stand up to the pace of the game and stuff like that. When I say our league is a little too slow, normally I get licks for it sometimes," Eve stated.
"I thought it was a good game of football. Jamaica were getting everybody behind the ball, and we were trying to break them down. One team was trying to win, and one team was trying to keep what they had. We were working on ball possession and trying to get in behind as much as possible to break them down. Clearly, they were working on their defensive shape and keeping things very tight, and that's basically what happened," he noted as he reflected on the second game.
Last March, the Soca Warriors visited Jamaica for a pair of friendlies, with attacker Reon Moore earning Eve's side a 1-0 win in the first game, before the teams played to a goalless stalemate in the second friendly. The results were a flip on this occasion.
"I thought it was a good competitive game for the local players, as we had good intensity. The exercise was good for both teams. Exactly what we wanted out of it is what we got," Eve ended.
Tom Dreaper took the first step in continuing the family legacy as he enjoyed his maiden winner as a trainer at Thurles with Folly Master.
Dreaper is the son of Jim, from whom he has taken over the training licence, and the grandson of the great Tom Dreaper, trainer of the one and only Arkle.
Dreaper guided Arkle to three consecutive victories in the Cheltenham Gold Cup, a King George and an Irish Grand National among countless other famous triumphs.
Upon retiring in 1971, Tom handed the reins over to Jim, who has now in turn done the same and passed the baton to his own son, Tom, 40, who is named after his grandfather.
The switch happened on March 1 and so the new Dreaper in the training ranks wasted no time in getting off the mark when Folly Master won the Leugh Beginners Chase at Thurles.
Ridden by Keith Donoghue as the the 11-10 favourite, the chestnut could well have been Jim Dreaper’s last winner rather than Tom’s first as the race was an afterthought when another contest was lost due to abandonment.
“Our licences changed over on March 1 and while I’d love to say this was a master plan, it wasn’t,” said the winning trainer.
“I trained point-to-point winners in my own name in recent years to differentiate the two set ups, when selling began to get going, but this is different and is great. I’m glad to get that out of the way.
“He is a lovely horse who has improved hand over fist and this time last year he wouldn’t have run in a point-to-point so was a long way down the pecking order.
“He has got better with racing and I know this was relatively low grade stuff, but he is what my father would want and what I want and that’s a staying chaser for the future.
“I have a good few point-to-pointers to run and a handful left to run on the racecourse before going out for the summer.”
Dreaper now hopes to continue in the same vein through the spring and into the summer and build momentum as the year progresses.
He added: “We’ll definitely push on now and the way this game has gone, it is a 12-month a year job now so we’ll need to roll all jobs (winter and summer) in together. The job is changing and anything that will win a race, we’ll hope to give it a rattle.
“We have had some great traditional owners down through the years – long before I was ever thought of, and we don’t ever worry too much about the number of horses. As long as we keep the quality up and maybe push on.”
Iroko has connections excited as he prepares to complete his comeback from injury in the Turners Novices’ Chase at the Cheltenham Festival.
The six-year-old gave upwardly mobile training duo Oliver Greenall and Josh Guerriero a landmark first Festival success when claiming the Martin Pipe 12 months ago.
It seemed unlikely he would feature at this year’s showcase meeting, with an injury suffered shortly after his imperious chasing debut expected to keep him out of action for the rest of the campaign.
However, he returned to full training quicker than anticipated and will head to Prestbury Park’s New course attempting to repeat last year’s heroics in an open Turners Novices’ Chase that kicks off day three of the Festival.
“He’s absolutely fine and in good health and is all set to run – we’re looking forward to running him on the Thursday in the Turners,” said Greenall.
“He seemed to really handle the New course (in the Martin Pipe), but I think he’s pretty versatile and he would handle the Old course just as well.”
The injury sustained by Iroko earlier in the season has left his training team in a race against time to prepare their stable star for the Cheltenham Festival.
Despite failing to beat the clock in order to provide the gelding with a prep run, Iroko successfully came through an away day at nearby Haydock recently, with Greenall believing the experience he has garnered running in handicaps will stand him in good stead for his Turners assignment.
“It (possible races) just came too soon really, fitness wise, but he has been away and schooled at Haydock and we’ve done everything we can,” continued Greenall.
“I think the fact he has run in some good juvenile races and some good handicaps, he is streetwise in that sense and it will just be jumping the fences at speed he will lack experience in, I suppose.”
It could be a big afternoon for the Greenall and Guerrero partnership, as fast on the heels of Iroko, in the very next race they will saddle White Rhino in the Pertemps Network Final Handicap Hurdle.
A general 10-1 shot to land a knockout blow with the bookmakers, the eight-year-old brings solid course form to the table, having finished second at the November meeting before going one better over the Pertemps track and trip the following month.
He was last seen qualifying for this event by finishing third at Huntingdon and is predicted to sharpen up for that outing back in the Cotswolds.
“He will go in the Pertemps on the same day, if he gets in,” continued Greenall.
“He seems to have come on nicely since his Huntingdon run, has a nice weight and we look forward to running him.”
City Of Troy tops the 49-strong list for the initial entry stage of the season’s first Classic contest, the Qipco 2000 Guineas.
The Aidan O’Brien-trained colt was unbeaten in three runs as a juvenile, culminating in a superb three-and-a-half-length Dewhurst victory at Newmarket in October.
He has his name on the long list to return to Headquarters on May 4, alongside stablemate Henry Longfellow – also unbeaten and the winner of the Vincent O’Brien National Stakes.
Richard Hannon’s Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere champion Rosallion features, as does the well-regarded Godolphin colt Ancient Wisdom, winner of the Futurity Trophy for Charlie Appleby.
Owen Burrows is represented by Shadwell’s Alyanaabi, second to City Of Troy in the Dewhurst and the winner of the Tattersalls Stakes, plus Futurity Trophy fourth Deira Mile.
Coolmore and O’Brien also have the leading fancy in the 1000 Guineas with Opera Singer, a Justify filly last seen winning the Prix Marcel Boussac at Longchamp. Ylang Ylang, winner of the Fillies’ Mile, is another for Ballydoyle.
Karl Burke’s Fallen Angel won both the Sweet Solera and the Moyglare Stud Stakes last season and is another exciting prospect put forward to head to the Rowley Mile on May 5.
The Ryanair Chase remains “very much the plan” for ante-post favourite Banbridge, despite concerns about ground conditions ahead of next week’s Cheltenham Festival.
Joseph O’Brien’s charge was a non-runner in the Turners Novices’ Chase at the showpiece meeting last year due to the rain-softened ground and the official going at Prestbury Park on Tuesday morning was soft, heavy in places.
Banbridge made an impressive start to his campaign when accounting for subsequent Ascot Chase winner Pic D’Orhy in the Grade Two Silviniaco Conti Chase at Kempton and he has since been saved for the Festival, with a final decision on his participation unlikely to be made until the morning of the race.
“There’s still a long time to go between now and then, there’s lots of racing to happen and lots of weather forecasts that will come and go,” said O’Brien.
“As we’ve said all along, we’ll look forward to the race and hopefully we’ll walk the track on the morning of the race and hopefully he can run.
“Very much the plan is to run. He’s prepared well for Cheltenham so far.”
Banbridge is set to lead a small but select team of “six or seven” runners for O’Brien across the biggest four days of the season in the Cotswolds.
He added: “Hopefully we’ll have something running most of the days, some of them would like the ground a bit softer and some of them would like it a bit quicker.
“At the moment, it looks as if it’s going to favour the horses that prefer a bit of juice, but let’s see what happens – it can dry out fast and it can get softer quickly too. We’ll keep an eye on things over the next week.”
Lark In The Mornin heads the betting for the Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle, but O’Brien revealed his participation is “up in the air”.
Considering some of his other running plans, he said: “Nurburgring is an intended runner in the Triumph Hurdle, he is still entered in the Boodles but he’s going to run in the Triumph.
“Home By The Lee is in the Stayers’ Hurdle, we’ll have Solness in the Grand Annual and Busselton in the Ultima Handicap Chase, so there’s a few runners there.”
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