Gift heading straight to Gold Cup

IRIS’S GIFT will go straight to the Cheltenham Gold Cup without a prep run.

The 2004 Stayers’ Hurdle hero, a faller on his last chase start at Warwick, was being considered as a possible for the Red Square Vodka Gold Cup Chase at Haydock on Saturday.

But after much consideration, trainer Jonjo O’Neill and owner Robert Lester decided that going fresh to the Festival represents the best line of attack for their enigmatic gelding.