Stuart Edmunds will swerve an outing in the bet365 Hurdle at Wetherby on Saturday with Miami Magic in favour of a trip to Aintree early next month
The gelded son of Leading Light was one of nine entries that were received for the Grade Two test, better known as the West Yorkshire Hurdle, on Monday.
However, with conditions at the Yorkshire venue still on the quick side, the Stewkley-handler has opted to put his stable star’s comeback on hold.
The seven-year-old will now either have a tilt at either the BetMGM Handicap Chase on November 6 or the Pertemps Network Handicap Hurdle 24 hours later ahead of a tilt at the Coral Gold Cup at Newbury later in the month.
Edmunds said: “It is good to firm in places at Wetherby, and unless they get an absolute deluge I’m not going to run him on that.
“He is going to have two entries at Aintree. One will be in what is effectively the rearranged Badger Beers Handicap Chase and the other in the Pertemps qualifier.
“That will give us three weeks until the Coral Gold Cup, which is his main early season target. We will see what we think is the best race for him at Aintree.
"He has schooled over both obstacles, so it is not a problem whichever way we go.”
And although the Dan Hague-owned gelding is yet to race in a field with more than 11 runners in it, Edmunds is confident he will be able to handle his own in the Coral Gold Cup at Newbury, for which he is as short as 12/1.
Edmunds added: “The Coral Gold Cup will be a different test with the hustle of bustle with lots of runners in it. I think he is man enough for a race like that as he has run in some tough handicaps over hurdles.
“He is a big horse, which means he won’t get bullied out of anything, so he should be alright in a race like that.”
