Racing:Sizing Europe is set to take in either the Tied Cottage Chase or the Hennessy Gold Cup ahead of his fifth trip to the Cheltenham Festival in March. Although now an 11-year-old, Henry De Bromhead's stable star has appeared as good as ever in winning his three starts this season, completing the hat-trick with a typically sure-footed round of jumping in the Dial-A-Bet Chase at Leopardstown over the Christmas period.
De Bromhead remains open-minded about what trip the multiple Grade One winner will be campaigned over this spring, with the two-mile Tied Cottage at Punchestown on February 3rd and the three-mile Hennessy Gold Cup at Leopardstown a week later his next couple of options.
He holds entries in the two-mile Queen Mother Champion Chase, the two-mile-five-furlong Ryanair Chase and the three-and-a-quarter-mile Cheltenham Gold Cup at the Festival.
“He’s great, he’s in good form and the plan is to enter him in the Tied Cottage and the Hennessy,” said De Bromhead. “I wouldn’t like to say either way at the moment which race he’ll run in . We’ll just see what the ground is like nearer the time and go from there.”
De Bromhead is similarly in no rush to decide on Sizing Europe’s Cheltenham target, with ground conditions in March bound to be a huge factor.
“He’s entered in all three races and again it will be about seeing what the ground is like and what the competition is like in each race. Then we can make a decision,” he said.