Ketchum set for Cheltenham spin

Black Jack Ketchum is likely to try to stretch his unbeaten record to nine at Cheltenham on Monday.

Already 4-5 favourite with the sponsors for the Ladbrokes World Hurdle at the Festival in March, the seven-year-old holds an entry in the Steel Plate And Sections Hurdle over an extended two and a half miles.

“All being well, he’ll run on Monday. He’s in grand old form, I just wouldn’t want to see too much rain,” said trainer Jonjo O’Neill.

Winner of the Brit Insurance Novices’ Hurdle at last season’s Festival, he made a successful reappearance at Cheltenham three weeks ago.

“He’s sharpened up since his first run. He looks after himself and doesn’t do too much. We just exercise him, he does the rest. He’s got the engine,” O’Neill said.

The Jackdaws Castle trainer also plans to run Don’t Push It, a course winner earlier this month, in the Aquanti Group “Dipper” Novices’ Chase.

“He hasn’t had a lot of racing – he’s had a few injuries,” he added. “He was hard to train and it took us a long time to get him going, but he’s going the right way and hopefully there’s more to come.”