River possible for Cheltenham bid

Irish trainer Tony Martin is considering sending Ross River over for the £150,000 (€220,000) Boylesports.com Gold Cup at Cheltenham on December 9.

The 10-year-old is 10-1 with the sponsors following a winning seasonal debut at Punchestown last week.

“We’ll have a look at the race closely and it’s a big possibility,” Martin said. “We just have to confirm because we haven’t made our minds up yet where exactly we’ll go with him.

“There are a couple of options at Leopardstown over Christmas so it would depend how he’s treated by the English handicapper, how the race shapes up and how he is next weekend.

“He only raced last Saturday so I’d be waiting for another week to see how he is before committing to any plans.

“We were very happy with his run at Punchestown but it wasn’t a Cheltenham-standard race.

“They were very middling horses and there was only a handful of runners. It wasn’t a run to be getting carried away with but we were happy with him.

“He won on heavy last time and would go on any ground, so that’s never a worry with him.”