Flow options still open

Connections of Hennessy Cognac Gold Cup winner Strong Flow have still not completely ruled out the possibility of taking on the very best over fences this season.

The Paul Nicholls-trained six-year-old is still only a novice but put up an exhilarating performance at Newbury.

The indications are that he will stick to the novice route for the rest of this season and he is hot favourite for the Royal & SunAlliance Chase.

But owner Barry Marshall has not ruled out the possibility of taking on Best Mate and company in the Pertemps King George VI Chase or Tote Cheltenham Gold Cup.

He told The Independent: “The thing now will be to watch the entries for both the King George and the Gold Cup and see how the fields stack up. The strength of the field for the King George will be the key.

“Best Mate won his first Gold Cup when he was seven, so let’s keep the options open. He’s a star, he’s got his fan club and books written about him and he’s very good for the sport.

“But, some day, Best Mate has got to lose his crown. It’s very healthy to have a string of contenders queuing up behind him.

“It would be nice to have something to challenge him at some point. I’d like to think we have. We’re very pleased with how he’s come out of his race.”