Love Envoi could be rerouted to the Unibet Hurdle at Cheltenham on Saturday week after freezing temperatures scuppered plans to run at Lingfield on Friday.

Having finished second to Not So Sleepy in the rearranged Fighting Fifth Hurdle at Sandown on her reappearance, Harry Fry’s star mare was due to take on the boys once more in the £100,000 Weatherbys Cheltenham Festival Betting Guide Hurdle on day one of Lingfield’s Winter Million Racing Festival.

However, a frozen track forced the abandonment of Friday’s card and while the Lightning Novices’ Chase was rescheduled to be run at the same track on Sunday, Love Envoi’s race was not.

Fry has yet to firm up an alternative target for the Noel Fehily Racing-owned eight-year-old, but raised next weekend’s Grade Two feature in the Cotswolds as a possible option following news earlier in the week that Champion Hurdle hero Constitution Hill will not be lining up.

“We’re in discussions with Noel Fehily and Dave Crosse and the owners about what we do next, we haven’t decided yet,” said Fry.

“Friday’s race was ideal, but it was not to be, so we’re discussing it among ourselves and deciding on a new plan.

“There’s a mares’ hurdle at Doncaster next weekend over two miles, but I think that’s very unlikely. There is the International (Unibet Hurdle) at Cheltenham and I think we’ll probably be putting an entry in for that, and then there’s a Listed mares’ hurdle at Warwick on February 10.

“We’ll continue to discuss it and work out where we go from here.”

Love Envoi could be tasked with taking on the all-conquering Constitution Hill if making her return in Newcastle’s BetMGM Fighting Fifth Hurdle next month.

It was thought Harry Fry’s stable star would not be seen until the new year, having suffered an injury when racing at the Punchestown Festival in the spring.

However, having returned to training at Fry’s Dorset base, connections are keen to take their chance at Gosforth Park on December 2 providing the Noel Fehily Racing Syndicate-owned seven-year-old is giving the right signals in her homework.

“It is definitely a possibility and it was a race we earmarked when we got her back going this year,” said Fehily.

“Obviously, she got started a little bit later this year and Harry will see how she is training, and if he is happy with her, we may go there.

“It will be down to what Harry thinks, how she is doing and whether she is ready to go there. It will definitely be a decision that will be left until closer to the time, I would say.”

A Cheltenham Festival winner in her own right, taking on the reigning Champion Hurdle winner holds no fears for the Love Envoi team, with their eight-time scorer proving she is more than game for a battle with the best when a brave second to Honeysuckle at Prestbury Park in March.

“Constitution Hill looks exceptional but somebody has to finish second to him and hopefully it might be us,” continued Fehily.

“If you are not in, you can’t win, but she’s been a wonderful mare and we’ll only run if Harry is happy with her. If he is happy, we will take our chance and it is a great race to be involved in.”

Love Envoi will not be seen until the new year, when her season will be centred around going one better than last year’s brave second at the Cheltenham Festival.

A winner of the Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle at the Festival in 2022, a pair of taking victories at Sandown saw Harry Fry’s stable star head back to Prestbury Park full of confidence for a crack at the Mares’ Hurdle last March.

Sent off 11-1 in the hands of Johnny Burke, she came within a length and a half of back-to-back Cheltenham Festival triumphs as she eventually had to settle for a supporting role as Honeysuckle bowed out in fairytale fashion.

Despite injuring herself in her next outing at Punchestown, Love Envoi is back in training with Fry at his Dorset base and although the handler is keen to take his time, another crack at the Mares’ Hurdle is firmly in his sights.

Fry said: “She went so close to the Mares’ Hurdle, running Honeysuckle all the way, and obviously the whole campaign is going to be geared around going one better in March.

“She picked up a nasty injury when disappointing at Punchestown when last seen, which is her only bad run of her career and obviously there was a reason for it.

“She has made a full recovery out with Noel Fehily over the summer and he has pre-trained her and she’s just come back to us at the beginning of the month.

“She’s not going to be seen out until the new year I would have thought and it is still early stages with her, but we hope to have a clear run to March all being well.”

Love Envoi has been tentatively pencilled in to return in the same Sandown Listed event in which she recorded a 13-length success early in the year, while a similar contest at Warwick has been identified as another key stepping stone on the route to Prestbury Park.

“The races pick themselves for her and you have got the Sandown race she won last season in early January and then the Listed race at Warwick in February,” continued Fry.

“She was a non-runner in that last year because of the ground, but the programme is there for her and they are ideal prep races for the Mares’ Hurdle itself.”