Top prospect Samcro WILL remain over hurdles this season with Champion Hurdle his big aim
TOP NOVICE Samcro will stay over hurdles this season.
The Gordon Elliott-trained star will be aimed towards the Champion Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival in March.
The six-year-old will make his return to action later this week, with the WKD Hurdle at Down Royal his starting point on Friday.
The Gigginstown-owned gelding won four races last term, including the Ballymore Novices' Hurdle at the Festival.
Connections had been weighing up a novice chasing campaign, but Elliott revealed in his Betfair blog that the horse would stay hurdling.
Elliott said: "He's in great form, and the plan is for him to start off in the Grade 2 WKD at Down Royal on Friday.
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"I've spoken to (owners) Michael and Eddie O'Leary, and we've decided to keep him over hurdles this season in the hope that he can develop into a Champion Hurdle contender.
"I've never had a Champion Hurdle horse before, and Gigginstown have yet to win it, and we thought that it was worth giving Samcro a shot at that race.
"He started off in point-to-points - and when we bought him at Aintree, he was bought as a future chaser, and hopefully we will see him over fences in the future.
"As far as this season is concerned, though, he will be staying over hurdles - and we are going to try and follow a path towards the Champion Hurdle.
"I'm under no illusions about the challenge that he faces. But he was a top-class novice hurdler last season, and the race he won at Cheltenham has produced a number of previous champion hurdlers in Faugheen, Hardy Eustace and Istabraq.
"Samcro has a long way to go to be mentioned in the same breath as them, but he's done absolutely everything that we have asked of him so far, and I'm hoping that there's more to come.
"We'll get Friday out of the way first and we'll just take things race by race, but he'll follow a traditional sort of path to Cheltenham."
Bookies reacted to the news by trimming Samcro's odds for the Champion Hurdle, with prices ranging from 5-2 to 3-1.