Cash And Go bids to show his Grade One festive triumph was no fluke when he returns to Leopardstown for Sunday's Deloitte Novice Hurdle.
A winner of his first two starts over timber, Edward O'Grady's gelding looked to have plenty on his plate against the much-vaunted Sous Les Cieux in the Future Champions Novice Hurdle, but while the hot favourite weakened into third, Cash And Go claimed top honours. The pair are set to lock horns again.
"Any horse that wins three in a row you've got to be delighted with, especially when one of those is a Grade One race," said O'Grady.
"He was only four at the beginning of the season so we specifically took our time, we didn't want to ask too much of him too quickly. We brought him along gradually and then ran him in the Grade One at Christmas, which he was fortunate enough to win.
"He's stepping up in trip slightly, but I'm not worried about that. If he goes to Cheltenham it will be for the Supreme, that's the only one we put him in. We're not looking at going over further than this. The ground will certainly be soft. He won a bumper on heavy, so I'm not too worried about it."
The major threat to the two main Irish hopes is Nicky Henderson's British raider Captain Conan. The Tolworth Hurdle winner was supplemented at the start of the week, and Henderson is keen to find out how his charge shapes against the best novices in Ireland.
He told At The Races: "He's a lovely big horse - he's a very good big horse, I hope. I'm not sure if he really needs to be going to Cheltenham this year and I want to run him against good horses to see if he really is grown up enough for Cheltenham.
"It will be interesting to test the English and Irish horses (against each other) before Cheltenham, as that doesn't get done very often. I asked Barry (Geraghty) whether he thought I was mad to supplement, but as long as we finish in the first three we're covered and Barry thought it was a sound enough plan."
Jessica Harrington's mare Burn And Turn won a maiden hurdle at the track a fortnight ago and while the trainer feels Sunday's ground conditions will suit her better, she acknowledges she has plenty on her plate.
The trainer said: "She'll love that good ground and we were delighted she won over Christmas as she didn't like that ground at all. It's going to be tough for her on Sunday, but she's entitled to go there and we'll see what happens. We're just taking it one race at a time with her."
