He is dismissed as a 200 to 1 shot by the bookies but Imperial Call could yet have one last crack at regaining the Cheltenham Gold Crown he won so brilliantly five years ago.
The west Cork hero has been back in training for over three months and his progress has been so good that he is one of the 13 Irish-trained entries remaining for the Gold Cup in March.
A total of just 38 horses were published yesterday as entries for steeplechasing's greatest race and while the J P McManus-owned First Gold dominates the ante-post market, Imperial Call's name still figures among the elite.
The 12-year-old hasn't run since October of 1999, and has been pin-fired since then, but while trainer Raymond Hurley emphasises how tentative plans are, he doesn't rule out his stable star as a back number just yet.
"He is back doing some nice bits of work and while it is always touch and go with him, so far we're very happy with him. We have no firm plans yet for a return race but he has been working so well we feel he deserves a Gold Cup entry," Hurley said.
"The next fortnight will tell us an awful lot with him but he could be up to a race in a month or six weeks time," Hurley added although it's believed a tilt at the Hennessy Gold Cup, which Imperial Call also won in 1996, is unlikely.
One bunch of locals who don't rate the veteran's comeback chances too highly are the bookmakers Cashmans who go 200 to 1 about Imperial Call for the Cheltenham Gold Cup. The other Cork-owned contender, Florida Pearl, figures much more highly with them as does the Arthur Moore-trained Native Upmanship.
Moore, however, has taken the precaution of entering Native Upmanship for the Queen Mother Champion Chase, although the two-mile title option is unlikely to be taken up.
"We've only put him in the Queen Mother in case it turns up a bog at Cheltenham but that's unlikely to happen. Only then would it be considered. I expect Native Upmanship will have his next run in the Hennessy Gold Cup," Moore said yesterday.
