"Referring to the lung infection that ruled him out of Cheltenham, Casey said 'He’s grand now, not a bother on him, and he’s going to Liverpool for the Melling over two and a half'."
Trainer Peter Casey has indicated that the Melling Chase on April 5, and a clash with Ryanair winner Cue Card, is the next intended outing for leading Irish chaser Flemenstar.
Speaking to the Irish Times, Casey laid out the plan with Flemenstar for the remainder of the season, which also includes an even more audacious shot at Champion Chase winner Sprinter Sacre.
Referring to the lung infection that ruled him out of Cheltenham, Casey said "He's grand now, not a bother on him, and he's going to Liverpool for the Melling over two and a half. If all goes well there, he'll probably go to Punchestown for the two-mile race. The two-mile race was what we wanted to run in at Cheltenham."
The match-up between Flemenstar and Cue Card at Aintree would be a fascinating one, and not just because the pair sit on an identical Timeform steeplechase rating of 175. Flemenstar has become one of the most popular chasers in his native land, in no small part on account of his bold jumping in front. Similarly, Cue Card put up one of the performances of the Cheltenham Festival with an exemplary display of front-running in the Ryanair. Both horses best efforts have come when allowed to stride on, and it's doubtful that either will be asked to concede the lead to the other in the Melling Chase.
The race would also mark the first run in Britain for Flemenstar, who has previously been reported to be a poor traveller. The intermediate trip of two-and-a-half miles is possibly ideal for him, and certainly more suitable than three miles, over which he's been defeated on his last two starts, on the second occasion by subsequent Gold Cup runner-up Sir des Champs in the Irish Hennessy.
A potential date with Sprinter Sacre at Punchestown for Flemenstar could be even more significant from Timeform's point of view, as on ratings Flemenstar is one of the likelier candidates to push Sprinter Sacre into exercising the 'p' still attached to his already monstrous 192 rating. Despite Sprinter Sacre still having just eight chase starts to his name, only Arkle and Flyingbolt have ever been rated higher by Timeform.
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