Talk takes Cheltenham trial

Idle Talk will return to Cheltenham to try his luck in the £100,000 (€152,000) Letheby & Christopher Chase on January 27.

Tom George’s charge finished second behind Star De Mohaison at the Festival last March and filled the same spot in a competitive handicap on his seasonal reappearance at Prestbury Park.

Rested since finishing sixth behind State Of Play in the Hennessy back in November, Idle Talk is now ready to flex his muscles again.

“He’s going to run in what was formerly the Pillar Chase on Saturday week,” confirmed George.

“His last race came a little bit too soon for him so we gave him a bit of a break afterwards and I couldn’t be happier with him.

“He ran well enough in the Hennessy but he was just a bit flat. We took the chance of running him, but he’s back on song again now.”

George is keen to see how his stable star fares in the upcoming Grade Two contest before gauging whether his team target the Gold Cup in March.

“He’ll probably have a Grand National entry as well, but he loves Cheltenham and it means a lot if you love that course so we thought we’d put him in one of the trials and see what happens then.” he added.