Alainn handed Cheltenham assignment

CAILIN ALAINN has emerged as a fascinating contender for the Letheby And Christopher Chase at Cheltenham next weekend.

Charles Byrnes’ prolific eight-year-old mare has rattled up a six-race winning sequence in Ireland, with the last two victories coming at Grade One level.

The County Limerick handler had been thinking of running his pride and joy in the Dr. P.J. Moriarty Novice Chase at Leopardstown on February 10, but he believes the experience she will pick up in the Prestbury Park contest, a major trial for the Gold Cup, will be invaluable come March.