Aces Four sets sights on Aon Chase

Ferdy Murphy has pinpointed the Aon Chase on February 9 as the race in which he hopes to see Aces Four back on the track.

Murphy elected to bypass the King George VI Chase earlier in the month after the eight-year-old failed to sparkle in a workout, and will now target his charge at Newbury’s Grade Two contest.

“Hopefully he will make the Aon Chase and then we’ll have to decide whether it’ll be Cheltenham or Aintree for him,” Murphy said.

“Aintree would be very tempting with the way he won there last year, and the Martell Chase is worth a lot of dough,” he told Racing UK.

“You couldn’t do both and if L’Antartique goes well at Leopardstown over Christmas, he would probably go to Cheltenham.”