John 'Shark' Hanlon has high hopes Hidden Cyclone will develop into a serious contender for next year's Betfred Cheltenham Gold Cup.
The seven-year-old made a winning debut over fences at Leopardstown in December, only to disappoint his trainer when third to Sir Des Champs back there two weeks ago, although he was found to be under the weather two days after the race.
"You can ignore his last run. I scoped him after the race and he was OK, but two days later he came out with a snotty nose. I was hoping to go to Naas with him on the 26th. If he comes back right in time he'll run there, if he doesn't he won't," Hanlon told At the Races.
"My horses haven't been right and Andrew (McNamara) said he definitely wasn't the same horse that he was at Leopardstown over Christmas. And he's a great judge. He wasn't showing anything but he came back wrong.
"He'll get two more runs this season then he'll be laid off. I hope he'll be a Gold Cup horse next year.
"I'm going to bring him back early and you could see him at Cheltenham in November or December.
"My dream is that he's a Gold Cup horse."
