Ruth Jefferson to take her time before making plans for Waiting Patiently

Ruth Jefferson has been left trying to find a suitable race for Waiting Patiently after the top-class chaser's anti-climactic experience at Kempton.

But she could hand the seven-year-old entries for the Magners Cheltenham Gold Cup and Ryanair Chase after he was knocked out of contention in the King George VI Chase on Wednesday.

The second favourite was hampered by the falling Bristol De Mai after the ninth fence and Brian Hughes was unseated, leaving questions about whether he stays three miles unanswered.

"He seems all right this morning, that's the main thing," Jefferson said on Thursday. "We didn't really learn much, we're none the wiser. He settled quite nicely after the first couple, he was bobbing away and we'd have found out whether he stayed.

"He'll be out again when I can find a race. We'll go away and think about it, there are a couple of races in January we might consider.

"It's a tough one because the only race that jumps out at you is the Cotswold Chase and that's three and a quarter miles – that might just be a step too far. In bottomless ground round Cheltenham you might win it but you might just finish your season."

Cheltenham entries

Entries for the Ryanair and Gold Cup close on January 8 and Waiting Patiently, who had won all his six chases prior to the King George mishap, could be engaged in both.

"You may as well give them an entry for Cheltenham rather than supplement, as they close so early," his trainer said. "So he'll probably get a Ryanair Chase entry, and he might get a Gold Cup entry. Then we'll think about it."

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