RACING: The JP McManus-owned mare Like-A-Butterfly is set to go straight for the Cheltenham Festival without another run. The former Irish champion hurdler is one of 11 entries left in Sunday's Flyingbolt Chase at Navan, but was yesterday ruled out of a possible pre-festival clash with Ulaan Baatar by her trainer Christy Roche.
"The plan was to run at Navan but we've done some more tests on her and while we're 90 per cent happy with her, we are not 100 per cent happy," Roche explained. "As an owner JP doesn't want his horses running unless they're perfect." Like-A-Butterfly's blood picture was found to wrong after her last race at Leopardstown Christmas in which she was pulled up after starting hot favourite for the Durkan New Homes Chase.
Besides that, she has had only one other start over fences but that yielded a spectacular success at Naas that briefly had her at the head of the Arkle Trophy ante-post betting. Her subsequent interrupted progress means she is now as high as 20 to 1 with Ladbrokes for the Cheltenham race, but Roche is still confident he can get Like-A-Butterfly to the Arkle start.
"I believe we can still make it even though I couldn't see her having another run before Cheltenham," he said. "She is improving all the time and she's cantering away all the time. It's a case of when her blood levels are right we will run her and if they're not we won't. But the plan is still to go for the Arkle," Roche added.
Like-A-Butterfly is already a festival winner having won the Supreme Novices' Hurdle in 2002. She returned this season after almost 18 months on the sidelines with a leg problem.
The Noel Meade-trained Drinmore Chase winner Watson Lake is scheduled to take on Ulaan Baatar at the weekend and another likely to take on Jessica Harrington's Grade One winner is Scarthy Lad.
The Thomas O'Leary-trained horse was a distant sixth behind Ulaan Baatar in the Irish Arkle last month but the trainer said yesterday: "We're going to go for it again. It was a slowly run race the last day and he made a bad mistake but having said that he wouldn't have won anyway. Sunday will tell us about Cheltenham."
The current Arkle favourite War Of Attrition has emerged unscathed from his comeback win at Naas last weekend and will not appear again until the big race at the festival. War Of Attrition had a lengthy lay-off due to fracturing a splint bone but X-rays this week have revealed no problems.
"He is great. I just had the X-rays done for my own piece of mind," said trainer Mouse Morris. "He will have an easy week before we get him rocking and rolling again. But he won't run again before Cheltenham."
The James Bowe team have confirmed that Sunday's McCabe Builders Boyne Hurdle is likely to be Solerina's last race of the season. It will be Solerina's first try at three miles in this country and if it is to be successful she will have to cope with the Tom Taaffe-trained Emotional Moment, who is 14 to 1 with the sponsors for the Ladbrokes World Hurdle at Cheltenham.
In other news yesterday, Christy Roche also indicated that Le Coudray will have one run before tackling the Aintree Grand National in April.
Le Coudray fell at Bechers Brook second time round in last year's National and Roche reported yesterday: "He's in good order and scooping one hundred per cent. I hope to give him one run before the National."
Roche could be the man to get punters off to a flier at Thurles today in a Beginners Chase that features the return to action of the smart Over The Bar. His best form over hurdles was at further than today's two miles, however, and the Roche runner Twist 'N Shout, who also races in the McManus colours, has a clear edge on fitness.
