Sounds Russian booked for Perth outing

The Sholokhov gelding has always shown plenty of ability and won a good prize at Kelso in October 2022, going on to finish fourth in the Many Clouds and then coming home runner-up in both the Rowland Meyrick and the Cotswold Chase.

He was a contender for the 2023 Cheltenham Gold Cup off the back of those performances but unfortunately his race ended at the 17th fence when Ahoy Senor fell and brought him down, with the incident inflicting a knee injury that later required an operation to remove 12 chips of bone.

That kept him off for 11 months but he returned to action at Haydock in February, finishing fifth, and he is now set for the Listed Gold Castle Novices’ Hurdle.

“He came out his race at Haydock really well, there wasn’t much else to run him in without going to a big festival,” said Jefferson.

“He was always going to come on for the run so I’ve put him in at Perth, we may as well learn if he goes right-handed.

“If he does it will open up opportunities next year, if he doesn’t then I’ll know for sure.

“He’s always lugged a little bit left-handed so I’ve never run him right-handed, but we may as well have a go and find out now he’s nine.

“He’d been out for a long time and when you’re coming back on tacky ground it’s not like the start of the season.

“I knew in the back of my head I’d done as much as I could and he hadn’t been for a gallop, it was a perfectly acceptable run and we were happy enough.”