'Very special' Indefatigable in line for audacious treble starting at Cheltenham

An audacious Cheltenham, Punchestown and Royal Ascot treble is the aim for Indefatigable, starting in either the Mares' or Stayers' Hurdle next month.

The nine-year-old pulled off one of the most dramatic Cheltenham Festival wins in recent times when surging up the hill past rivals to land the Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys' Handicap Hurdle at 25-1 in a photo-finish two years ago.

That gave Oxfordshire-based trainer Paul Webber his first Cheltenham Festival success and it was a performance that proved to be no fluke, with Indefatigable finishing fourth in last year's Mares' Hurdle before taking the Grade 2 West Yorkshire Hurdle this season.

Despite defeat at Warwick on Saturday, Webber is pushing ahead with his ambitious plan and is leaning more towards a tilt at the Stayers' Hurdle (3.30), for which Indefatigable is a general 25-1 shot.

He said: "She probably needs a bit further, so it may well be that she goes for the Stayers' Hurdle. She found it too sharp at Warwick and just didn't get going at all.

Indefatigable (second left): already a Cheltenham Festival winnerCredit: Jonathan Grossick

"It also depends so much on the ground. We didn't run her in the Mares' Hurdle two years ago as it was very soft, but by the Friday it was decent and ideal for her. I can't be categorical at the moment, but the trip may be more important for her on the much longer New course.

"She's better in the spring but has achieved more in the autumn and winter this season than she has done before. The spring ground helps her and we just have to hope we don't get deluges in March, having had such a dry winter so far."

A shot at top-level glory in the Mares Champion Hurdle or Champion Stayers Hurdle at the Punchestown festival is also on the agenda for Indefatigable, before she bids to give Webber a third Royal Ascot winner in the Queen Alexandra or Ascot Stakes – the race in which he had his most recent success at the historic meeting with Full House in 2007.

Owned by Philip Rocher, Indefatigable had been set for a trip to Royal Ascot last year before those plans were shelved, and she belatedly got off the mark on the Flat when beating Triumph Hurdle fancy Doctor Parnassus in a 1m4f maiden at Pontefract in October.

Paul Webber: 'I've always thought Punchestown would suit her very well'Credit: Edward Whitaker

Webber said: "I've always thought Punchestown would suit her very well and that's definitely going to be on the agenda, then it's certainly the plan to have a Flat campaign.

"Because of the summer ground, we were thinking last year of running her in the Queen Alexandra Stakes at Royal Ascot, but she wasn't quite right a month before and had a deserved holiday instead.

"She only needs one more run on the Flat in order to get a handicap mark, which she'd need to get into the Ascot Stakes. It's extraordinary that we've got her at all to be able to go to these places. She's very special indeed."

Don't miss next Wednesday's edition of the Racing Post Weekender, in which Indefatigable will feature as part of our Fans' Favourites series on racing's most popular horses. Alternatively, read the digital edition of the Weekender by signing up the the Racing Post Members' Club here.

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