Strong Flow faces hurdles test

Strong Flow will bid to book his ticket for next month’s Hennessy Cognac Gold Cup when he lines up over hurdles at Naas on Saturday.

The 11-year-old won the Hennessy at Newbury for Paul Nicholls back in 2003 but was subsequently retired in 2005 after sustaining a leg injury.

However, despite a lengthy absence, he was brought back into training with Dessie Hughes and ran with credit to take fourth behind Taranis on his return at Down Royal.

Strong Flow was well beaten when falling at Newbury last month but Hughes is hoping for a better show in the Bank Of Ireland Hurdle before heading to Leopardstown on February 10.

Hughes said: “He’ll go over hurdles just to get a run under his belt and we’ll see how he gets on.

“If he comes through it, his main target is the Irish Hennessy and he does have an entry in the Gold Cup at Cheltenham. We’ll just see how it goes.”