Eustace may run at Aintree
The nine-year-old was denied a Champion Hurdle hat-trick when finishing third behind Brave Inca at the Festival but trainer Dessie Hughes is now looking towards Aintree.
“It’s possible he’ll go to Aintree if the ground is good,” said Hughes. “He came out of Cheltenham very well and, as he didn’t have much racing this year, I think we may as well make the best of it.
“He hasn’t really worked too hard since Cheltenham, so we’ll see how he works and how he is, but if he’s OK and the ground suits, we’ll probably travel over.”
Vincent O’Brien County Hurdle winner Desert Quest is likely to be upped in class at Aintree next week where he could have a crack at the Grade Two John Smith’s Mersey Novices’ Hurdle.
The six-year-old has had a productive first season over hurdles winning five of his nine starts, culminating with his cosy success at the Cheltenham Festival.
Paul Nicholls has confirmed that Kauto Star will miss next week’s Grade One John Smith’s Melling Chase at Aintree.
The two-and-a-half-mile contest had been mooted as a target for the six-year-old after his unfortunate fall at the third fence in the Queen Mother Champion Chase at the Cheltenham Festival.
However, Nicholls has decided to sidestep that event in favour of a possible outing in the Betfred Celebration Chase at Sandown on April 29, in which stable mate Azertyuiop was second to Well Chief last year.
Meanwhile, a report has estimated the economic contribution of the Punchestown Festival to be in the region of €43 million.
Commenting on the findings of the financial review, chairman of Horse Racing Ireland Denis Brosnan said: “I am delighted to discover the value of the Punchestown Festival to the economy, and this report is particularly welcome coming on the back of three years continuous growth.
“We believe that Punchestown is one of the best prospects for growth in Irish racing, which will continue well into the future. On these grounds, it is not unreasonable to expect this report’s economic contribution figure of €43 million to increase in the coming years.”
This year’s Festival will take place from April 25 to April 28, with Cheltenham heroes War Of Attrition and Brave Inca set to line-up.
