Venture set to take Lingfield route

Ferdy Murphy is likely to take the promising Tribal Venture to Lingfield on Saturday, rather than let him take up his engagement at Cheltenham the previous day.

The West Witton trainer withdrew Tribal Venture from the Paris Pike Novices’ Chase at Kelso on Sunday, which was won in good style by his stable companion Your A Gassman, because he felt the going was a bit quick.

And ground conditions have persuaded him to opt for Lingfield as he explained: “I think it will be too quick for him at Cheltenham, so we will go for the December Novices’ Chase at Lingfield and Brian Harding will ride him.

“They give the ground as ‘good to soft, soft in places’ and that is where we will go as long as it does not dry up.

“He is a serious horse and wants some cut, while Your A Gassman prefers better ground, I was very pleased with him at Kelso and I think we will give him a break until January.”

The Murphy team will still be in evidence at Cheltenham on Friday, and he plans to be double-handed in the Sporting Index Handicap Chase, a three mile seven-furlong cross country test.

He went on: “Alan O’Keeffe will ride Luzcadou and Timmy Murphy will be on The Quads so we have a good hand in that.”

The following day Murphy runs Europa in the £110,000 bonusprint.com Gold Cup and is looking forward to the race, adding: “He is in very good form, and did a brilliant piece of work this morning – Jason Maguire rides him.

“We will also run Joes Edge in the bonusprint.com Novices’ Chase. Don’t forget he is not a slow horse by any means and Tony Dobbin will ride him for us.”

The stable’s Welsh National hope Granit D’Estruval, who unseated his rider last time out at Sandown, is among the entries for the Worthington’s Creamflow Neville Crump Memorial Handicap Chase at Doncaster on Saturday.

However, Murphy intends to head for the West Country instead, and said: “I think we will wait a bit longer and take him to Exeter a week on Thursday.”

Murphy’s conditional jockey Neil Mulholland expects to return to race-riding at the weekend or early next week after eight and a half months on the sidelines with a broken leg.

The leg was broken in eight places in a fall at Wetherby on March 22, and Murphy said: “It was a bad break and a great pity for Neil because he was going great.

“He has been riding a lot of work and done a lot of schooling for me so he will be fit and ready, and it will be good to have him back in action.”