Stars set to shine at Cheltenham

Hennessy Gold Cup fifth All In The Stars is set to make a quick reappearance in Friday’s Mears Group Chase at Cheltenham.

Despite making several errors, Paul Keane’s second-season novice ran a fine race to finish just over seven lengths behind impressive winner Trabolgan at Newbury.

Keane has the Scottish National in April as the seven-year-old’s end-of-season target but would like to give him one more run before a break.

“He’s in very good form and is going to run as I don’t think the ground will dry out too much,” said the Dorset-based handler.

“I have had a long chat with his co-owner and we are making the Scottish National the long-term plan, but that is light years away in racing terms.

“Because his owner is back in the country before Christmas, we decided to give him one more run and then hold him back for the spring.

“I think he is crying out for four miles but I don’t want to expose him over it until Scotland.

“He did run a very good race at Newbury although he only had a feather-weight but if he hadn’t missed the fence three-out, I felt he might have got a length or two closer.”