RACING:THE GRADE One winner First Lieutenant will lead a small-but-select team from Mouse Morris' yard at the Cheltenham festival, with the Tipperary-based trainer favouring the Neptune Investment Novice Hurdle for Michael O'Leary's horse.
Morris famously won the 2006 Gold Cup for the Ryanair boss with War Of Attrition, and First Lieutenant graduated to the top-flight with a narrow defeat of Zaidpour at Leopardstown over Christmas.
He has a number of festival entries, but Morris yesterday ruled First Lieutenant out of the three-mile Albert Bartlett.
“It will be either the two-mile or the two-and-a-half. I would say it is more likely to be the Neptune.
“It depends on the ground, but the forecast doesn’t look too bad.”
First Lieutenant was as short as 10 to 1 in ante-post betting yesterday for the Neptune.
Morris, who first tasted Cheltenham success as a jockey in 1974 aboard Mr Midland in the four-mile National Hunt Chase, will also send the four-year-old Tillahow to the festival.
“He’s in the Fred Winter, the Triumph and the Supreme.
“We’ll have to see what he’ll go for closer to the time. He was a bit disappointing on his last start, but he was off-colour,” he said.
China Rock remains on course for the Gold Cup, for which he remains a 66 to 1 outsider, and Morris added: “He has been fine since his last race and Barry Geraghty will ride him.”
