Gold Cup favourite Presenting Percy entered in Galmoy Hurdle on Thursday

Gold Cup favourite Presenting Percy could finally return to action next Thursday over hurdles at Gowran Park.

The ground has not been soft enough this season for the Pat Kelly-trained eight-year-old, but he looks set to get his favoured conditions in the Grade 2 John Mulhern Galmoy Hurdle, which he won last year.

Presenting Percy, a top-priced 9-2 for the Magners-sponsored Gold Cup in March, has not run since landing the RSA Chase by seven lengths at Cheltenham ten months ago.

He missed a couple of possible targets last month – the John Durkan Memorial Chase at Punchestown and the Savills Chase at Leopardstown – because ground conditions were considered too quick for him.

Pat Kelly won the Galmoy Hurdle with Presenting Percy last seasonCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

Speaking on Thursday evening, Gowran racecourse manager Eddie Scally said: "Our ground is currently yielding, yielding to soft in places. We are expecting rain tomorrow – we could get up to 13mm – and after that the forecast is mixed with more rain likely."

Presenting Percy is among 18 entries for Thursday's race in which Willie Mullins accounts for seven, his possible runners including Bachasson, Bapaume, Coquin Mans, Limini and Shaneshill, who won the race two years ago.

Apart from Thursday's race, Presenting Percy's only other pre-Cheltenham entry is for the Unibet Irish Gold Cup at Leopardstown on February 3.

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