The upwardly mobile Oscar Whisky will have his Cheltenham Festival target decided only after he has contested the Welsh Champion Hurdle at Ffos Las on February 5, writes Elliot Slater.
Trained by Nicky Henderson and owned by Dai Walters, (the owner and developer of the Ffos Las circuit), Oscar Whisky placed himself right into the reckoning for consideration for Champion Hurdle honours after impressively beating Any Given Day by seven lengths in the Cheltenham & Three Counties Club Hurdle at Prestbury Park on New Year's Day. Significantly, that win came over two-miles-five furlongs, leaving connections with the dilemma of which trip is actually best for the highly progressive son of Oscar and it's something anyone planning to bet on Cheltenham 2011 should keep an eye on.
Last season the six-year-old won his two bumper starts (both at Newbury), before making a winning hurdles debut again at the Berkshire track. He then landed the odds in heavy ground at Sandown and duly headed to the Cheltenham Festival and a crack at the Grade 1 Supreme Novices' Hurdle, where he ran a perfectly creditable race in finishing third to the high-class Menorah, only two lengths behind the third placed horse, Irish star Dunguib.
Quite understandably Dai Walters has always favoured his horse representing him in the Welsh Champion Hurdle – the race will be run for the first time at Ffos Las after being switched from its traditional home at Chepstow - but after that a decision will have to be made as to whether he should stick at the minimum trip and have a crack at the Champion Hurdle, for which he is currently at around 14/1 in the Cheltenham betting offers, or step up to the extended three miles and take on Big Bucks and the rest in the Ladbrokes World Hurdle, for which he is also available at around 14/1.
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