Gold Cup hero Minella Indo set for King George as De Bromhead sets out plans

Henry de Bromhead found himself in uncharted territory in the spring when he became the only trainer in history to follow up a treble of championship race triumphs at the Cheltenham Festival with victory in the Grand National and he will be hoping to conquer more fresh ground with his Gold Cup hero Minella Indo in the King George VI Chase at Kempton this Christmas.

De Bromhead, who also revealed he plans to test the water in Graded chases with Aintree hero Minella Times, said he was caught on the hop by how badly Minella Indo needed his reappearance third to Frodon in the Ladbrokes Champion Chase at Down Royal last Saturday.

He said: "Minella Indo is highly likely to go for the King George. I know he's maybe not your typical King George horse, but we'll certainly weigh it up closer to the time.

King George, Betfair Chase and more: potential runners and a long-range shout

"He'll come on plenty for Down Royal. He was a little bit shorter than I thought he was and caught me out a little but still ran a cracker. Fair play to the Nicholls team; Frodon was in great shape on the day and we look forward to taking him on again some day."

Minella Times led home Balko Des Flos to provide the stable with a memorable one-two at Aintree in April and while all roads lead back to Aintree for Minella Times, De Bromhead raised the possibility of contesting Graded chases en route, nominating the John Durkan Chase at Punchestown as a possible starting point.

De Bromhead explained: "Minella Times will be entered in some of those Graded races and we'll see how we go. He's rated 158 in Ireland, 162 in Britain, so he holds a rating which suggests he can mix it in those Graded races.

Minella Times: National hero will be entered in John Durkan ChaseCredit: Edward Whitaker

"He'll be entered in the John Durkan and he'll possibly be ready for that. There's a conditions chase at Thurles at the end of this month which we could have a look at as well. He's a high-class horse and we'll see how he fares."

Blessed with a multitude of contenders for top honours in all the championship races over fences, De Bromhead is likely to split up some of his leading lights over the coming months.

Gold Cup runner-up A Plus Tard is on course to get his campaign up and running in the Betfair Chase at Haydock, while Put The Kettle On will spearhead De Bromhead’s challenge at the Cheltenham November meeting when the Champion Chase heroine bids to make it back-to-back wins in the Shloer Chase.

De Bromhead said: "A Plus Tard definitely prefers going left-handed and the plan is the Betfair Chase. Given his preference, I'd imagine he'll stay at home for the Savills Chase at Leopardstown over Christmas. Fingers crossed, if everything went well, he could go straight to the Gold Cup from there as it worked well last year."

He added: "Put The Kettle On is going for the Shloer. She worked brilliantly yesterday. Sadly we couldn't run her at Gowran Park but we go for the Shloer now and we're really happy with her."

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