Vaucelet likely to spearhead David Christie’s Cheltenham hopes

Winged Leader and Ferns Lock likely to head elsewhere.

Vaucelet appears to be David Christie’s Cheltenham Festival number one as the handler begins to piece together his plans for the spring festivals.

The Derrylin-based trainer has a strong band of hunter chasers at his disposal and many thought exciting six-year-old Ferns Lock could be the horse to go one better than Winged Leader’s second in the St. James’s Place Hunters’ Chase judged on his 20-length beating of Billaway at Thurles.

But Christie is in no rush to over face Ferns Lock at this stage of his career and will look to his Down Royal scorer to lead the Cheltenham charge, with Vaucelet the bookmakers for the amateur riders’ contest.

“All along he has been the number one horse to be going (to Cheltenham) with,” said Christie.

Punchestown Festival – Day Four
Vaucelet (right) finishing second to Billaway in the Irish Daily Star Champion Hunters Chase at the Punchestown Festival in 2022 (Brian Lawless/PA)

“He’s a lot stronger this year – he was a bit on the weak side last year. You don’t generally get deep ground at Cheltenham and he’s a horse that likes spring ground.

“The extra few furlongs up the hill at Cheltenham takes a lot of getting and he’s a horse who really comes into his element once he passes three miles. He has a lovely relaxed way of racing and allows himself to stay really well.”

He went on: “I sort of promised myself I wouldn’t run him on heavy winter ground, but it turned out not too bad at Down Royal and I was delighted with him.

“Down Royal is a little bit like Thurles and it can turn into a wee bit of a sprint which doesn’t necessarily suit him and bring out the best aspects in him. But Barry (O’Neill) said he couldn’t get him pulled up and he went a long way after the line before he could pull him up.”

He could be joined on the Cheltenham team sheet by last-year’s runner-up Winged Leader, after his successful comeback in a Cragmore point-to-point.

However, there is also the possibility the nine-year-old skips a return to Prestbury Park in favour of the Aintree edition a month later.

“That was a very good effort (at Cragmore) because he had not run since Cheltenham and we had done very little schooling with him,” added Christie.

“He took a knock at Cheltenham and it took quite a long time to get that sorted out and get him in a position where he was fit enough to run in a race.

“I could have run him at Thurles, but the way the race was building up – there was the odd comment about it being a rematch with Billaway and I just thought I would take him out of the spotlight and run him in a point-to-point.

Winged Leader and Barry O'Neill in action at Down Royal
Winged Leader and Barry O’Neill in action at Down Royal (PA)

“He always needs a run and he was very ring rusty, but if you watch the replay Barry never puts a stick on him and I thought he stayed on really well. He will come on a tonne for that.

“He’ll get an entry and then we’ll see whether he goes back to Cheltenham or whether I hold on to him for a hunter chase here and then Aintree.”

Meanwhile one who definitely will not run at Cheltenham is Ferns Lock.

The six-year-old has won his two starts under rules by a combined 32 lengths, but Christie is keen to give him plenty of time to mature and will instead bid for big-race glory closer to home in the Tetratema Cup.

“He is a very exciting horse,” said Christie.

“Thurles would be a sharp three miles and the way he handled himself and jumped was pleasing. He has quite a lot of turn of foot and he’s able to do that two or three times in a race, he’s just a very exciting horse to look forward to that’s for sure.

“He’s a baby of a horse and he’s huge.

“He’ll be entered in the Tetratema, the big hunter chase at Gowran Park which is very prestigious in Ireland. That’s the week before Cheltenham and we’ll just take it from there one race at a time.”

Explaining the reasoning behind skipping the Cheltenham Festival, he added: “He has ability and there is no doubt he could go to Cheltenham.

“But it is a very rough race over there and it could ruin him going there so young and I don’t really see the benefit of that to be honest. There is no doubt he is a Cheltenham type horse, but unless he wins, he could come home and we don’t have a horse at all.

“He’s only six and he’s only run a few times, so we will let him find his feet and where his niche is and then we’ll find out what we do with him – whether we continue hunter chasing or he goes on to do something else.

“I think he’s better than a hunter chaser now never mind in time, but he lacks experience so I won’t be in any panic with him.”

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