Hourigan keen not to over-cook Beef

MICHAEL HOURIGAN will wait and see how Beef Or Salmon goes over the next week or so before committing his stable star to the Hennessy Cognac Gold Cup at Leopardstown on Sunday week.

The eight-year-old was for a long time thought of as the biggest threat to the supremacy of Best Mate at Cheltenham in March.

But that position diminished following his below-par effort behind Henrietta Knight’s star in the Ericsson Chase over Christmas, together with the emergence once more of Jair Du Cochet as a major contender for chasing’s blue riband.