Hurdles option for Junior

Already a Cheltenham Festival winner having landed last season's Kim Muir, he is nearing a return to competitive action, with a hurdle race currently being favoured for his comeback.

"We have plenty of options with him and it is just a case of picking the best one,'' the owners' Tim Palin said.

"He's in the Grand National Trial at Haydock on February 18 and there is also the option of running him in a hurdle race that day.

"We obviously gave him the entry in the Gold Cup as well and we have actually entered him in a three-mile handicap hurdle at Newbury this Saturday.

"Nothing is definite but at the moment, I think we're favouring running him in a three-mile handicap hurdle somewhere on decent ground, as his mark over hurdles has actually dropped.

"He's rated 145 now and off that mark, even if he were to win, the handicapper shouldn't really raise his chase mark of 153 any higher.

"At the end of the day, it's all about the Grand National with him and we'll give him one or two runs before then, just picking the best options.

"We don't want to give him a hard race on testing ground, so we'll be looking for a bit of decent ground somewhere.''

Junior is one of four possible Grand National runners for David Pipe, who is offering Swing Bill up for sale to any owner who would like to be involved.

The Package, who unseated Graham Lee at the 19th fence of the 2010 renewal and has been off since November of that year, is another candidate along with Massini's Maguire.

Pipe said of The Package: "He picked up an injury and missed most of last season but has been doing all his prep work with Timmy Murphy and returned to us last month.

"He is in great nick and me may go straight to the Cheltenham Festival.

"Massini's Maguire is also entered. He was a little disappointing at Ascot earlier in the season but I think we can forget that run as he works really nicely at home and possesses a great deal of ability.

"He is not the easiest to train but is very talented and I look forward to running him at Ascot later this month and we will then decide about the Grand National after this."

Of Swing Bill, who won a handicap at Cheltenham in November, the trainer told www.davidpipe.com: "He has jumped round the National fences before and will give someone a great thrill to own such a genuine and consistent horse.

"He is likely to have a run this month before heading to the Cheltenham Festival and whatever race he runs in there he is sure to give you a good run."