Ahoy Senor may sidestep Cheltenham as Russell ponders Aintree alternative

Lucinda Russell has warned leading novice Ahoy Senor may miss the Cheltenham Festival, despite leaving her star in the Gold Cup at the latest acceptance stage on Tuesday.

The next couple of days will determine the next target for the seven-year-old, who was a comfortable winner of the Towton Novices' Chase at Wetherby on Saturday.

"We're still trying to decide where we will go with him and we're not even sure if he's going to Cheltenham at all," Russell said. "The best thing is that the options are still there for him, but we want to see how he comes out of his race at the weekend."

Brown Advisory Novices' Chase full card and betting

Ahoy Senor is a general 11-2 third favourite for the Brown Advisory Novices' Chase on day two of the festival behind Galopin Des Champs and Bravemansgame, who handed Ahoy Senor his sole defeat over fences on Boxing Day.

The Russell-trained runner bounced back in Wetherby's Grade 2 contest on Saturday, winning by five and a half lengths under Derek Fox.

Ahoy Senor also holds an entry for the Boodles Gold Cup on March 18, for which he is a 50-1 shot, but Russell is also considering a return to Aintree in the Mildmay Novices' Chase.

The April Grade 1 contest comes one year on from his shock breakthrough Grade 1 success in the Sefton Novices' Hurdle at odds of 66-1.

"Derek gave him a lovely ride round at the weekend and I think it was educational as well as a very good race for him," Russell said. "We want to see how he gets on this week, and make more of a decision about his future targets then.

"There's the three-mile novice chase at Aintree that is also an option for him, so there's three possible targets he could go for. He's a novice still and our big aim is the 2023 Gold Cup, so it's all about how we get him there."

Mighty Thunder: on course for the Grand National following a wind operationCredit: John Grossick (racingpost.com/photos)

Aintree could also feature the return of Mighty Thunder, who remains on course for the Grand National after being pulled up in the Edinburgh National on Saturday.

The Scottish National winner is currently 50-1 for the Aintree showpiece on April 9, in which he would bid to give Russell her second Grand National victory following One For Arthur's success in 2017.

Russell said: "Mighty Thunder is fine, he was pulled up with a wind issue at the weekend so will have a wind operation on Thursday just to sort that out. He won't run at Haydock but we're still aiming for the Grand National with him."

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