Willie Mullins dispelled negative rumours about Florida Pearl yesterday and confirmed his stable star on course for Saturday's £100,000 Nicholson Champion chase at Down Royal.

After a relatively disappointing piece of work at the Curragh last Friday, there had been some speculation about Florida Pearl's participation in Northern Ireland's richest race but Mullins has emphatically scotched them.

"At the moment Florida Pearl goes north and is very well in himself," he said. "I thought he might have worked better at the Curragh on Friday evening but he ate up afterwards and is still on course."

Mullins added: "Florida Pearl is usually expected to win his bits of work but Balla Sola beat him over a mile and a half. Mind you, Balla Sola is a fair horse. I wanted Paul (Carberry) to get a proper feel of the horse, so in making the running he ran a little free and was really in at the deep end. He had a good blow."

Eight horses are left in Saturday's race after the defection of the Gold Cup winner, See More Business, the SunAlliance winner Looks Like Trouble and the David Nicholson-trained Spendid. The 1998 Gold Cup runner-up Strong Promise will travel from Britain however.

Chris Kinane, assistant to trainer Geoff Hubbard, said yesterday: "Strong Promise is on schedule and ready to go. I've got a guy over there walking the course for me. If it comes up soft it will be a wasted trip." The Down Royal ground is currently good to yielding.

Others left in are Dorans Pride and the flamboyant Ferbet Junior, who hammered Imperial Call in his comeback race at Gowran last month.