Shloer Chase the target for impressive Cheltenham winner

Last Saturday's runaway Cheltenham winner Fox Norton has been raised 15lb, a hike which will rule him out of most handicaps and set him on the Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase trail.

The Arkle third has been given a mark of 161 following the 11-length defeat of Sizing Platinum in the Randox Health Chase, and he is now likely to be seen next back at Cheltenham in the Grade 2 Shloer Chase, the race in which Sprinter Sacre made his successful comeback last season, although he will also have a handicap entry in the Haldon Gold Cup at Exeter next Tuesday.

Trainer Neil Mulholland said: "I'd have liked him to have a slightly lesser rise, but we were expecting a hit like that and being too high on 161 is a nice sort of complaint to have.

"He's improving all the time and can hopefully improve again from the weekend, as that was his first run of the season.

"He carried a good weight and beat a decent field in a very good time, so there's no reason he can't go all the way. He's pretty much out of handicaps now and although he'll have an entry in next week’s Haldon Gold Cup he's more likely to wait for the Shloer."

Mulholland also had news of The Young Master, who ended last season with a brave short-head defeat of Just A Par in the Bet365 Gold Cup at Sandown and has an entry in this Saturday's Sodexo Gold Cup at Ascot, for which he is a 12-1 chance with bet365.

He said: "The Young Master is going to Ascot and will more than likely go for the Becher Chase at Aintree after that as I want him to have a sight of the big fences before the Grand National."