James Owen is looking forward to Burdett Road’s chasing debut at the Cheltenham November Meeting on Saturday.
The five-year-old was 150-rated over hurdles but is all set to begin a novice chasing campaign in Saturday’s Paddy Power Arkle Challenge Trophy Trial Novices’ Chase over two miles.
He won the Greatwood Hurdle on the Old Course last season and was runner-up to Golden Ace at 66/1 in the Champion Hurdle last March.
Owen said on the Nick Luck Daily Podcast: “We schooled him last year over fences and he took to it quite well, but it's just basically where we go with him this year really.
“He's schooled really well at home, he seems to attack his fences so fingers crossed he can do that on the track.
“It's a big ask going to Cheltenham, but the Old Course he’s run very well around and we’re going to find out on Saturday whether it's for him or not.
“We felt he’s taken a big step forward for that run [over hurdles at Kempton] and he actually looked a little bit rusty.
“He’s quite brave, I wouldn’t want to be on him! But he’ll be good fun to watch. We’re looking forward to it.”
Owen has won the JCB Triumph Trial Juvenile Hurdle at the meeting the last two years with Burdett Road and East India Dock and he has a trio of horses for the Gredleys to pick from this time around.
He said: "Kate O’Reilly, she’s got an entry, she won on debut at Ludlow, she wouldn’t want it too extreme weather wise hence why we put Trad Jazz in there who could make their debut.
"We want to see where we are with the juveniles. Hallejulah U will definitely run, he’s done plenty of schooling, we were keen to start him off at Cheltenham, he’s a horse we like a lot.
"He had a high Flat rating, stays well and should handle the softer conditions.
"On ratings I would say Hallejulah U [has the most talent], but Trad Jazz is very unexposed on the Flat, a filly we thought would be Listed-class, so it wouldn’t surprise me if she stepped forward."
More from Sporting Life
- Free bets
- Racecards
- Fast results
- Full results and free video replays
- Horse racing news
- Horse racing tips
- Horse racing features
- Download our free iOS and Android app
- Football and other sports tips
- Podcasts and video content
Safer gambling
We are committed in our support of safer gambling. Recommended bets are advised to over-18s and we strongly encourage readers to wager only what they can afford to lose.
If you are concerned about your gambling, please call the National Gambling Helpline / GamCare on 0808 8020 133.
Further support and information can be found at begambleaware.org and gamblingtherapy.org.
