Cheltenham target for Etoile
However, trainer Paul Nolan has yet to decide if the Champion Hurdle fourth will have another outing before that Grade Two contest.
“We might run him again before Cheltenham in November and if that is the case he would go to Fairyhouse for a two-mile beginners’ chase,” Nolan said yesterday.
“He is very well, though, and he could go straight to Cheltenham in November without another run.”
Accordion Etoile went down by two and a half lengths to the Grade One winner Watson Lake at Limerick on Sunday after crashing through the second-last fence.
“Up until he made that novicey mistake he had jumped very well and I was very pleased,” said Nolan.
“He never got a smack with the stick but still managed to close the gap down to two lengths.
“He is an ordinary horse on yielding to soft ground but he is a very decent horse on good ground, as he showed in the Champion Hurdle last year when only beaten three lengths by Hardy Eustace.”
French Accordion, a close relative of Accordion Etoile, could also make a trip to the Open meeting after scoring in Grade Three company at Tipperary earlier this month.
“He is a full-brother to Accordion Etoile but doesn’t look anything like him,” Nolan continued.
“He is rated about 40lb below Accordion Etoile but we still think an awful lot of him and he is probably a later-developer. He jumps very well and will get two and a half miles, and maybe further.
“He has probably improved from his Tipperary run as he had an easy time before that race as my horses weren’t firing.
“He is entered again in Cork this weekend but could go to Cheltenham in November for a handicap hurdle.”
Nolan is also planning to aim Colnel Rayburn at the John Smith’s Grand National after the nine-year-old was pulled-up in last term’s renewal.
“He will go for the National again as he was very unlucky last year,” added the County Wexford-based handler.
“He got caught in a bit of trouble and went from second to second-last, but was cruising and was absolutely loving it at the time.”
Meanwhile Kieren Fallon is hoping something can fill the shoes of Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe winner Hurricane Run in the Breeders’ Cup Turf on October 29.
The six-times champion was due to partner his Longchamp hero in New York, but Andre Fabre’s brilliant colt has been ruled out after he was found to be coughing.
Fallon could now ride either Ace or Powerscourt for the Coolmore operation.
He told At The Races: “I couldn’t believe it, it is probably the most disappointing news I have heard all year.
“We have been having such a fantastic year and I was really looking forward to seeing him in America - I love the Breeders’, it is my favourite meeting of the year and hopefully we will have something else that can help us win the race.”
Alan Munro is looking forward to renewing his association with handicap king Sergeant Cecil in the totesport Cesarewitch at Newmarket on Saturday.
Rob Millman’s six-year-old bagged the John Smith’s Northumberland Plate and the Ebor during the summer, before putting up a huge performance to chase home Millenary in the Group Two Doncaster Cup.
“He has had a great year and the prospect of him doing the treble is very exciting,” Munro told At The Races.
“He has really matured this year and has got a really good race pattern. He didn’t have it early on and was quite keen, but he seems to have settled down and is a much easier ride.
“It is a tough race to know where to be and it will depend on the pace - it is a hard race to work out beforehand and will probably be down to luck on the day.”
Sergeant Cecil is a 10-1 chance to land the second leg of the autumn double.
Vinnie Roe, the four-time Irish St Leger winner, has been sold to Coolmore and will join their National Hunt stallion ranks after running in the Melbourne Cup.
The Dermot Weld-trained seven-year-old is set to have his final start for Jim Sheridan and Michael Watt on November 1 before being retired.
“We’ve followed Vinnie Roe’s career very closely and are delighted to have got him,” said Albert Sherwood of Coolmore’s Grange Stud. “He’s a very good-looking, sound and high-class racehorse.”
