Martin aiming Golden Spear at Imperial Cup

Golden Spear (near side) wins Leopardstown's November Handicap last OctoberCredit: Alain Barr

Even the penalty accrued by victory on Saturday may not be enough to get Golden Spear into the Cheltenham Festival, but trainer Tony Martin is hoping to gain ample compensation when making an early raid from Ireland on the Matchbook Imperial Cup.

The six-year-old, a regular in major handicaps over hurdles and on the Flat, was on Monday made favourite for the Sandown feature at odds ranging from 7-2 to 5-1.

The Leopardstown November Handicap winner is also prominent in the betting for the Randox Health County Hurdle and Coral Cup, but the extra 5lb that would be received for winning the Imperial Cup would still leave him needing numerous withdrawals to get a run at Cheltenham.

Martin, who had been eyeing the County Hurdle, said: "Golden Spear is number 82 on the list for that. At this stage it would look unlikely he'll get in, so we're going to have a crack at the Imperial Cup first. We'll see how it goes. If he wins it and gets into the County, great."

Martin added: "He ran well at Leopardstown in the big handicap hurdle in January but things just didn't go his way up the home straight. He was stuck on the inside and Denis [O'Regan] had nowhere to go.

"The ground turned against him at Ascot before Christmas, but he still ran well to finish fourth behind Brain Power and he's one of the leading fancies for the Champion Hurdle."

The four-timer-seeking Air Horse One is a best-priced 8-1 along with Fixe Le Kap, who would be having his first outing in a year if lining up in a race to whose winning connections Matchbook will pay a £50,000 bonus if the successful horse goes on to win at Cheltenham.

Imperial Cup entries

David JenningsDeputy Ireland editor

Published on 6 March 2017inNews

Last updated 17:22, 6 March 2017

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