Ruby Walsh thinks connections should resist the temptation to go up in trip with Impaire Et Passe and stick to the Unibet Champion Hurdle route.
Winner of last year's Ballymore at Cheltenham, he proved no match for stablemate State Man in the Matheson Hurdle over Christmas but Walsh, speaking on Paddy Power Media’s ‘From The Horse’s Mouth’ podcast ‘Cheltenham Countdown’, feels he should stay at two miles for now.
"Watching him, he doesn’t look to me like a horse who wants running in a Stayers’ Hurdle. He was quite keen in the Hatton’s Grace, he had a good grip of Daryl Jacob in the Matheson and he doesn’t race like a Stayers’ Hurdle horse yet. He might over time, if you dropped him in, he might switch off, but to watch him in his races, he races too on the bridle for my money to be a Stayers’ Hurdle horse.
"So I’d run him in the Champion Hurdle and I think he can improve from Leopardstown. His jumping is very good and it was better than State Man’s at Leopardstown and maybe a stronger run race. If you follow State Man and Constitution Hill, who knows what they could do to each other and you could pick up the pieces. I’d be for running him but I don’t train or own him so it’s only my opinion. If he’s going to go chasing next year as well, I would think that the Champion Hurdle is the better option for him."
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