Zaidpour on course for Cheltenham
January 27, 2012 09:51:36 UK
Willie Mullins watched Zaidpour win well at Gowran Park yesterday but made it clear the horse's Cheltenham plans remain fluid.
Ruby Walsh rode a clever tactical race, taking the six-year-old to the front of the three-mile hurdle and eventually running out a one-length winner over the runner-up and emerging talent Voler Le Vedette.
Zaidpour is entered for the Champion Hurdle along with the stable star Hurricane Fly and Thousand Stars. Whether he gets there or not - and he is currently priced at 34.00 to win the race while Hurricane Fly can be backed at 1.66 and Thousand Stars at 21.00 - remains to be seen, but Mullins handed out one big clue.
He explained: "I would say that Zaidpour is a stone better on soft ground but Cheltenham remains a possibility for him."
It would be hard to see the horse winning a Champion Hurdle, particularly as yesterday's victory had as much to do with Walsh's abilities to read a race as anything else.
I would say that Zaidpour is a stone better on soft ground but Cheltenham remains a possibility for him.
Willie Mullins
Added Mullins: "I think Ruby got the tactics right as the mare (Voler Le Vedette) was closing on ours at the end. The jockey called things right."
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On His Own (10/1) provided the top yard with a double when winning by a massive 13 lengths but Cheltenham is not on his agenda, with Mullins saying: "He looks like a real Aintree type doesn't he and of course we must hope the English handicapper wasn't looking too closely at that."
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