'He'll be the one they all have to beat' - Sam Curling sets Cheltenham plans for Wonderwall after HRI honour

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County Tipperary trainer Sam Curling, fresh from being honoured in the point-to-point category at last week’s Horse Racing Ireland Awards, is turning his attention to the spring, with plans taking shape for last season’s Cheltenham Festival hunters' chase winner Wonderwall.

Wonderwall was a surprise 28-1 winner of the marquee amateur race last season, flying under the radar despite having won both of his point-to-points in the autumn and reappearing only in March. 

The nine-year-old returned to action with a comfortable win at Dromahane last month. As he is already qualified for Cheltenham this season, Curling is pondering going straight there.

“He likes being fresh, and he's fairly ground dependent,” he said. “We might run him one more time in February, but he’ll more than likely go straight to Cheltenham. He’s a good horse, and it’s easy to get him fit. If everything goes right and the ground is nice, he’ll be the one they all have to beat.

“It was brilliant to win at Cheltenham last season. We predominantly train point-to-pointers, so to win that race was great. You don’t expect to win, but we had the favourite in Angels Dawn, and he was going just as well as she was. So we expected a good run.”

Wonderwall’s victory at Cheltenham provided Curling with his second festival success, having won the 2023 Kim Muir with Angels Dawn. Yet it is on the point-to-point circuit where Curling is best known, and he has just had his best season with a return of 34 winners. It is for this achievement and the success of Wonderwall that he was honoured by HRI at its awards ceremony.

“It was great to get the award,” he said. “It was nice to get some recognition for the Cheltenham winner and for a good year last year. It was great for the team and it’s a big award to get.

“We had a good year last year and we have started well this time, too. We have a lot of nice horses, so hopefully we can keep going.”

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