Shock Foxhunter star It Came To Pass 'in great order' ahead of festival warm-up

Eugene O’Sullivan says It Came To Pass is "in great order" and will warm up for his Cheltenham Festival Foxhunter Chase defence at Belclare point-to-point at the end of the month.

It Came To Pass, who ran out a shock 66-1 winner of the Foxhunter last season under the trainer’s daughter Maxine, was due to run at Dromahane last month but O’Sullivan was forced to withdraw his stable star after he suffered a mysterious knock on the way to the races.

O’Sullivan explained: “He'll be running at Belclare point-to-point at the end of this month and will be going straight to Cheltenham after that. We're following the same path to last year and I'll be going to Belclare for the ground. It's the right timing for a run between now and Cheltenham.”

He added: “He's in great order. We were going to run him in Dromahane about a fortnight ago but I don't know what happened to him, he took a lame step coming off the box so we decided not to run him.

“He's been perfect ever since and hasn't missed a day. We haven't found anything wrong with him. He must have just knocked himself on the way to the races. We're delighted with how his preparation is going though apart from that.”

Willie Mullins revealed on Wednesday that he was planning for this season’s Cheltenham Festival as normal despite the rising number of coronavirus cases in Ireland and Britain being a worry.

While O’Sullivan describes his own situation as a “different kettle of fish” compared to that of the champion trainer, he admitted that he has his own worries about whether or not he will be allowed to travel It Came To Pass to Cheltenham.

Joyous scenes in the winner's enclosure with It Came To Pass, trained by Eugene O'Sullivan (right)Credit: Patrick McCann

He explained: “I'm not worried about travelling to England, my only worry is whether or not we'll be allowed to go. I can handle the travelling as I'm only one man with a horse. It's a bit different for the likes of Willie Mullins with lots of horses to worry about but I only have the one to bring over. A different kettle of fish altogether.”

O’Sullivan added: “I would hope that owners will be allowed to go just to give the meeting some sort of an atmosphere. I mean, Cheltenham is so big, 2,000 people wouldn't be seen there. We'll know more in the middle of next month.”

Read more:

'Awesome' Imperial Aura excites Bailey ahead of Cheltenham prep run

Altior, Politologue and Chacun Pour Soi among 31 entered for Champion Chase

Dual winner Al Boum Photo and Santini among 41 Cheltenham Gold Cup entries

Unbeaten Tolworth Hurdle winner Metier among 49 Betfair Hurdle entries

Friday inspection called for Chepstow's Welsh Grand National card on Saturday

Confirmed runners and riders for Saturday's Coral Welsh Grand National

Ultimate Daily – our daily newsletters from Racing Post's experts, exclusive to the inbox of Ultimate Members' Club subscribers. To receive the newsletter subscribe at racingpost.com/members-club