Ruby Walsh is set to ride Vautour in the Sky Bet Supreme Novices' Hurdle
Ruby Walsh is set to ride Vautour ahead of stablemate Wicklow Brave in the Sky Bet Supreme Novices' Hurdle.
Last Updated: 04/03/14 1:52pm
Willie Mullins still has nine horses engaged in next week's Festival curtain raiser but Walsh revealed on Racing UK that the Grade One Deloitte Novice Hurdle winner is likely to be his chosen mount.
"It will be a tough call," he said, "I am probably leaning towards Vautour and I have won the race on stayers in the past. He seems to be a good stayer but they all have at least two more bits of work to do and they have to travel.
"But Wicklow Brave is a good horse, he's got a lot of speed. He jumped only okay the last day but I think he'll improve on that and he's a hell of a good horse and I hope I'm on the right one."
Vautour is currently the sponsors' 7/2 second favourite behind Irving and Walsh is certainly full of respect for Paul Nicholls' unbeaten six-year-old.
"Irving was very impressive at Kempton [in the Dovecote]. He just changed into another gear and he made decent horses look ordinary; you'd have to be impressed with him," he added.