Il Est Francais is heading straight to Cheltenham with the Ryanair seemingly the least likely of his three potential targets there.
Noel George has ruled out heading to Kempton for the Ladbrokes Trophy with his freewheeling King George runner-up and will have a close eye on the action from Ascot on Saturday.
"I’m very much keeping my cards close to my chest and I think we’ve just got to watch the races over the next month or so. The Clarence House Chase at Ascot at the weekend is going to be a big decider in where we go.
“I’d be surprised if we went for the intermediate distance unless the race really cut up. At the moment, it looks like a lot of people are taking the Ryanair route and if that was looking a strong race, I think we might go for one of the others.
“If they all decide to go Champion Chase or Gold Cup route, then we might reconsider, but at the moment, if the Ryanair is as strong as it looks on paper, we probably wouldn’t be going to it.”
And the potential for a small field in the Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup might tempt connections to take a shot at chasing's blue riband.
“If the only horse to beat in the Gold Cup is Galopin Des Champs…and whether we’d get a freebie in front with the race cutting up and everyone going to the Ryanair, it’s tough to say,” he said.
“I think we’ve just got to see where everyone is going and how everyone goes in their next race. It’s also important to consider that the Gold Cup is run on a fresh strip of ground that is only used once a year down the inside. Last year, a horse like The Real Whacker made the running in the Gold Cup and he couldn’t live with us in Kempton.
“There’s loads of options and we’ve just got to see how it’s all going to play out, I think.”
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