David Christie is pinning his hopes of a maiden Cheltenham winner on Vaucelet at this year’s meeting.

The Derrylin trainer came close to his first Cheltenham victory last year when Winged Leader came home second in the St. James’s Place Hunters’ Chase, but this time around the bookies have made Vaucelet the early favourite for the 2023 race.

The Hunter’s Chase takes place on St. Patrick’s Day this year, but with David currently ill and unable to attend the meeting, his son David is the one who will be preparing the final touches before cheering on Vaucelet next Friday.

“If all goes well in the race, you would hope he would run a very good race,” said David.

“He is a horse who stays all day. Anything can happen in racing, but if he is still there after two and a half or three miles, then he should stay on well.

“Obviously we will keep our fingers crossed that everything goes well, and the weather stays good. Those things are out of your control, but if the ground stays good then he should relish that. I would hope he runs well.”

In the lead up to Cheltenham, Christie originally named three horses, with Winged Leader and Ferns Lock both options to join Vaucelet, but with the festival now under a week away David has made the decision to target other races for those two horses.

“Declarations aren’t for a little while yet but its more than likely that only Vaucelet will go,” he acknowledged.

“Dad always said from the start of the season that he was the number-one Cheltenham horse.

“Even though Winged Leader almost won it last year, we always thought he was more of an Aintree horse anyway, so that is where we are aiming.

“The third horse, Ferns Lock, will probably run this Saturday at a Hunters Chase at Gowran Park and he is being aimed for there.

“Winged Leader and Vaucelet are owned by the same owners, so it was always very unlikely that they would run against each other anyway.”

Jockey Barry O’Neill has been familiarising himself with the horse again this week, as preparations continue to ensure Vaucelet is in ideal shape ahead of the high-profile race.

“Vaucelet was away this week too with a couple of other horses to Leopardstown for a school on grass over the fences,” revealed David.

“Barry O’Neill came over to sit on him and get his eye in.

“He has not been out on a racecourse since Boxing Day, so it was for the two of them to get acquainted again, and so he is not jumping the first at Cheltenham, having not jumped a fence for a while.

“His ferry is booked, his accommodation is booked, and it will be a case of getting him over there next Tuesday. The race isn’t until Friday, but it is to get him acclimatised to Cheltenham.

“He will be exercised over there every morning, and he will have an easy week to get settled in.

“His main work has been done in the last couple of weeks so it’s just a case of freshening him up now for travelling.”

 

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