Dan Skelton is leaning towards the International Hurdle at Cheltenham as the next port of call for his Champion Hurdle hopeful The New Lion.
The Christmas Hurdle at Kempton Park had been mooted as a possible objective for the six-year-old but Skelton is leaning towards Festival Trials Day at Cheltenham in January.
The New Lion retained his unbeaten record when winning the Turner's Novices' Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival in March over two miles five furlongs to end the season as one of the leading novices.
Connections dropped him back to two miles for his seasonal reappearance with a view to a campaign culminating in a tilt at the Champion Hurdle but a dramatic renewal of the Fighting Fifth Hurdle proved inconclusive with The New Lion falling at the second last.
Appearing on ITV Racing's The Opening Show, Skelton was asked for an update on The New Lion.
"I think we'll probably wait and go to the International, I think the Christmas Hurdle will perhaps come a little too soon," he replied.
"There's an emphasis on speed around there [Kempton Park], and I think that Cheltenham is the best route to go en-route to a Champion Hurdle, so I'd imagine you'll see him on Trials Day."
Skelton went on to confirm that The New Lion was none the worse for his tumble at Newcastle and re-iterated his confidence in the six-year-old.
"The most important thing after last Saturday is that he's okay and he was, he was 100% sound Monday morning," the trainer confirmed.
"Everyone has checked him, the vets, physios, everyone's very happy with him and he has cantered every day since but the most important thing I saw was how he coped with going that strong two mile pace and there was absolutely no issue whatsoever with that.
"Although we ended up on the floor with no result, which was highly frustrating, I was also very happy to see how he coped with that speed and in my mind there's no doubt he's a two miler and I think he's a very big player come March.
"You'll be hearing me talking rather bullish about him and I hope we get a nice smooth run between now and then."
The New Lion is 9/2 for the Champion Hurdle with Sky Bet at Cheltenham in March.
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