Paddy Power Gold Cup favourite Imperial Aura out of Cheltenham showpiece

Kim Bailey is to resist the temptation of taking Imperial Aura back to the scene of March's Cheltenham Festival triumph in the Paddy Power Gold Cup on November 14, with either a trip to Ascot or Huntingdon next on the seven-year-old's agenda.

An impressive winner of the Northern Trust Company Novices' Handicap Chase at the festival, Imperial Aura set the pulse racing with a bold round of jumping to win on his comeback at Carlisle on Sunday, sending him to the head of the market for the Paddy Power Gold Cup.

Watch: Imperial Aura's bold round of jumping at Carlisle

However, that race will come too soon according to his trainer, who is instead considering the Grade 2 Chanelle Pharma Chase [formerly the Christy 1965 Chase] at Ascot on November 21 or the Grade 2 Fitzdares Peterborough Chase at Huntingdon on December 6.

"The Paddy Power will come far too soon for him and he would be out of that one completely," said Bailey. "He's a horse who doesn't want to be running again very quickly. If Carlisle had been abandoned, we'd have gone straight to the Paddy Power but we've now got other things to think of."

David Bass celebrates after victory on Imperial Aura at last season's Cheltenham FestivalCredit: John Grossick (racingpost.com/photos)

Owned by the Imperial Racing Partnership, Imperial Aura may well not run in a handicap again after he put a smart field to the sword in emphatic style in Sunday's Colin Parker Memorial Intermediate Chase, a race won by the likes of Grade 1 winners Lostintranslation and Waiting Patiently in recent years.

Bailey added: "There's the race at Ascot that Altior and Cyrname met in last year [Chanelle Pharma Chase] and also the Peterborough Chase, so one of those two will be where his next run is going to be."

Imperial Aura is a best-priced 16-1 with bet365 and William Hill for the Grade 1 Ryanair Chase in March, with Bailey confirming the festival will once again be his main objective.

He said: "Cheltenham is the ultimate aim for him as it was last year."

Bookmakers reacted to Imperial Aura's absence from the Paddy Power Gold Cup by making Saint Sonnet, who finished seventh in the Marsh Novices' Chase at the festival when last seen, the new 5-1 market leader.

Weights for the race were revealed on Wednesday, with Aso heading the field on 11st 12lb. Simply The Betts, who is the general 6-1 second favourite, is next in off 11st 11lb.

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