Coneygree is set to run at Haydock before going for glory in the Albert Bartlett at Cheltenham
Coneygree is set to run at Haydock before going for glory in the Albert Bartlett Novices' Hurdle at Cheltenham.
Last Updated: 03/02/13 10:28am
There is a race of the same name over three miles at the Merseyside track on February 16.
Although he was only third behind At Fishers Cross at Cheltenham on his latest start after winning his two previous races there, connections felt he was unsuited by the heavy going.
"He didn't handle the extreme ground, Mattie (Batchelor) said he never carried him like he did in the last two races when it was soft, but that was extreme," said trainer Mark Bradstock's wife, Sara.
"He is still a big baby. The winner was interestingly a second-season novice. Coneygree has come out of it absolutely fine. I was quite pleased because he wasn't disgraced without actually being able to run his proper race.
"We were going to go straight to the Festival, but we won't now. We will probably run him in an Albert Bartlett race at Haydock in a couple of weeks time.
"He takes a little bit of winding up for a race and I think with the weather and things being stop-start for the two weeks before his last race didn't help either. We ought to get him on the grass for another run before we get to the Festival.
"He'll go for the Albert Bartlett at the Festival. The two and a half miles of the Neptune is too short for him, but we wouldn't run him at all if it came up fast ground."