Minella Drama will bid for a second successive Grade 2 success in the TrustATrader Peterborough Chase at Huntingdon on Sunday.
Donald McCain’s charge notched his first victory since February of last year when landing the Old Roan Chase at Aintree in late October, beating a strong field that included Ahoy Senor and Stage Star.
Minella Drama has not been seen in competitive action since due to a lack of suitable opportunities, but is poised for a trip to Cambridgeshire this weekend.
“He’s definitely an intended runner, there’s literally nowhere else we can go,” said McCain.
“To be honest, if the ground does deteriorate it doesn’t matter as he’ll go on good ground and he’ll go on heavy ground, it makes no odds. We’ve just been waiting for any opportunity to run him, we’re very happy with him, he’s in great nick and he’s ready to run.
“He doesn’t seem to like going south for some reason, but Huntingdon is not like Ascot and those sorts of places and it’s the only race for him. Touch wood we’ve had a really smooth run since Aintree, we just took our time and he’s in great order, so we’ll go and have a crack and see.”
Minella Drama is one of seven entries for the Peterborough Chase, with Dan Skelton’s Protektorat setting the standard on ratings.
Winner of the 2022 Betfair Chase and the Ryanair Chase last season, the nine-year-old can be expected to improve from his comeback sixth under the welter burden of 12st in the Paddy Power Gold Cup at Cheltenham last month.
Jamie Snowden could saddle the Paddy Power runner-up Ga Law, while the Paul Nicholls-trained Ginny’s Destiny has the opportunity to bounce back from being pulled up in the same race.
Djelo (Venetia Williams), Nickle Back (Sarah Humphrey) and Soul Icon (Keiran Burke) are the other contenders.
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