Warren
Greatrex is looking forward to seeing his star hurdler Cole Harden
back in action in the Relkeel Hurdle at Cheltenham on New Year’s
Day after his recent reappearance at Newbury.
Cole
Harden finished a perhaps slightly disappointing third to
Thistlecrack, trained by Colin Tizzard, in the Long Distance Hurdle
at Newbury back in November.
Despite
the underwhelming result, Greatrex was pleased with the run at
Newbury and he believes Cole Harden is warming up nicely ahead of his
engagement at Cheltenham in the New Year ahead of the festival then
in March.
The
Relkeel Hurdle seems a prime opportunity for the six-year-old and
Greatrex, who watched Cole Harden finish third behind Rock On Ruby
and Vaniteux, is of the belief that the gelding can produce an even
better performance this time.
"He
came out of his run at Newbury very well and looks great. I am very
happy with him. He was third in the Relkeel last year and, fingers
crossed, he can go a bit better this year," said the trainer.
It
was confirmed that the impressive hurdler’s season is being geared
towards another tilt at the World Hurdle at the Cheltenham festival
in March, a race Cole Harden completely
dominated in 2015
when taking a three-and-a-quarter length victory from Saphir Du Rheu.
According
to statistics, most
people bet on the last day of the Cheltenham Festival at Coral
but Cole Harden, who runs on the penultimate day, seems a bet not to
be missed. It’s likely there will be plenty written about the
hurdler on Coral’s horse racing blog between now and the Festival.
The
Grade-1 winner is currently 7-1
joint-favourite
with Coral to defend his crown successfully in the Cotswolds and his
trainer is confident that the six-year-old can do the business.
"The
plan at the moment will be to run on New Year's Day and then go
straight for the Ladbrokes World Hurdle,” said Greatrex. “We want
the tank full for March."
Cole
Harden has one win and a third at Cheltenham to his name, but if he
can perform well in the Relkeel Hurdle on New Year’s Day there’s
no reason why he can’t take another victory at the home of jump
racing next Spring.