Nicky Henderson will throw Oscara Dara into the mix for next Thursday's Ladbrokes World Hurdle.
Nicky Henderson will throw Oscara Dara into the mix for next Thursday's Ladbrokes World Hurdle.
Last Updated: 09/03/13 7:31pm
The trainer confirmed the change of plan for the horse, who had originally been aimed at the Coral Cup, at a Cheltenham Festival preview event after racing at Sandown on Saturday.
His move echoes the decision of Paul Nicholls, who on Friday announced that he also intended to switch his Wonderful Charm from the Coral Cup to the Grade One contest.
"I think we've all come in here a bit with ifs and buts, but I can reveal that we're going to run Oscara Dara in the race too," he said.
"He won very nicely at Kempton on his penultimate start and in fact on his rating, he's got 4lb in hand of Wonderful Charm so we thought it had to be worth giving a go.
"It will be interesting to see how it all stacks up in the absence of Big Buck's."
Henderson said he was not concerned about soft ground for Oscar Whisky, despite admitting that last year's poor performance in the race remained in his mind.
"I think you just have to take it as it was," he said. "I don't think it can possibly have been his true running.
"I'm not worried about the ground. He's won over two and a half in soft ground.
"Sure, if it had dried it would have closed the gap to Reve De Sivola, who loves soft ground. But I think he handles it all right."