Hedgehunter team eye Hennessy bid en route to Gold Cup
The Hennessy Cognac Gold Cup on February 10 has been nominated as his probable next port of call before connections turn their attention to Cheltenham and Aintree.
Second in the Leopardstown race last season, Willie Mullins’ 11-year-old filled the same spot in the Gold Cup in March and the Grand National the following month.
Reportedly back on song now, he is likely to tread a familiar path this spring if preparations continue to go smoothly.
“Hedgehunter’s back in fast work and he’s aiming at the Hennessy at Leopardstown in February,” confirmed owner Trevor Hemmings’ racing manager Michael Meagher yesterday.
“He was second there last year and he missed his run over Christmas as Willie wasn’t quite happy with him but he’s on target now.”
On the possibility of tackling the Gold Cup and National again, he told At The Races: “All being well he probably will, as we have an extra week this year with the National being later – there were no ill effects on him last year.
“He managed to cope very well so we’ll keep our fingers crossed that everything goes okay with him.
“He would be on the same lines as last year.”
Meanwhile Frost covers could be deployed at Cheltenham over the weekend as officials look to protect the course in the run-up to the Festival trials meeting on Saturday week.
The seven-race card boasts total prize money of over £300,000 and, with numerous fixtures being lost to the weather in recent days, clerk of the course Simon Claisse does not want to take any chances.
“We’re currently soft and heavy in places with maybe another half inch of rain and/or snow to come before racing on the 27th,” he said.
“The forecast for the next week is very cold and we are currently making provisions for course coverage with the frost covers.
“If the forecast that I’m looking at now hasn’t changed by the weekend then we’ll be laying covers over 20 hectares of the racecourse on Sunday.
“If it turns colder then it will be drier but the picture seems to be changing quite rapidly.”
Claisse also added the Prestbury Park turf had recovered well from the last meeting, although steady rainfall has kept conditions on the easy side.
“The ground went back surprisingly well, but then it hasn’t dried out much since then,” he said.
“We were fortunate in that we had a little three or four-day spell in which no rain fell, but it seems at the moment as soon as it begins to dry out we are then hit with the next bit of rain.”
Idle Talk will return to Cheltenham to try his luck in the £100,000 Letheby & Christopher Chase on January 27.
Tom George’s charge finished second behind Star De Mohaison at the Festival last March and filled the same spot in a competitive handicap on his seasonal reappearance at Prestbury Park.
Rested since finishing sixth behind State Of Play in the Hennessy back in November, Idle Talk is now ready to flex his muscles again.
“He’s going to run in what was formerly the Pillar Chase on Saturday week,” confirmed George.
“His last race came a little bit too soon for him so we gave him a bit of a break afterwards and I couldn’t be happier with him.
“He ran well enough in the Hennessy but he was just a bit flat. We took the chance of running him, but he’s back on song again now.”
George is keen to see how his stable star fares in the upcoming Grade Two contest before gauging whether his team target the Gold Cup in March.
“He’ll probably have a Grand National entry as well, but he loves Cheltenham and it means a lot if you love that course so we thought we’d put him in one of the trials and see what happens then.” he added.
* The Horseracing Regulatory Authority’s inquiry involving jockeys Robert Winston and Robbie Fitzpatrick will continue into next week.
Along with former licensed jockeys Luke Fletcher and Fran Ferris, former bookmaker Ian Nicholls and four other unlicensed individuals, the HRA panel are considering whether Winston and Fitzpatrick breached the Rules of Racing in relation to 37 races. The hearing began last Wednesday and will run into next Monday at least.
