NICKY HENDERSON has hinted at a stunning Cheltenham entry for a horse banned from one of the big races at the Festival.
Legendary Seven Barrows boss Hendo had mapped out a route to the Morebattle Hurdle for awesome William Hill Hurdle winner Joyeuse.
But she wasn’t among the 23 entries for Saturday’s big contest at Kelso.
And now Henderson says ‘everything is under consideration’ – including a shot at the Mares’ Hurdle – for the JP McManus-owned, £200,000 half-sister to former Champion Hurdle winner Epatante.
Joyeuse hasn’t met the five-run criteria for the County Hurdle, the race for which she was cut to 8-1.
She has raced four times over hurdles altogether, three times this season, winning her latest by eight lengths from Lump Sum and being put up 15lbs to 138 in the process.
Now a possible supplementary entry to the Mares’ Hurdle at a cost of £4,800 could be on the cards.
Henderson said: “She’s fine but she’s not going to Kelso.
“Everything is under consideration for her I would say, we can put it like that, we haven’t got any further.
“We did think about Kelso but it was only three weeks ago and she would have had an awful lot of weight, so we’ve decided to leave that.”
Any supplementary entries for the Mares’ must be made by noon on March 5, with declarations four days later.
Joyeuse was immediately introduced at 5-1 for the Mares’ with Unibet while William Hill and 888 went 7-1.
Gordon Elliott’s Brighterdaysahead is 1-2 fav for the Grade 1 but could be Champion Hurdle-bound.
The Betfair Exchange knows what’s happening before it’s official – as was the case with Kawaboomga being ruled out of the Festival.
And it could be telling that Brighterdaysahead is no longer favourite on there for the Mares’, having been replaced by Jade De Grugy.
Brighterdaysahead was matched as low as 1.8 but has drifted all the way out to 4.5, while she is 4.7 for the Champion Hurdle.
On the sportsbooks, Willie Mullins’ pair Lossiemouth (5-4) and Jade De Grugy (5-2) are second and third-favs respectively for the Mares’.
While Henry de Bromhead’s July Flower is a best-price 6-1.
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