Dodger Long has Cheltenham aspirations following Fairyhouse run Harriet Dickin is eyeing a trip to the Cheltenham Festival with Dodger Long after mixing it with the big guns in Ireland. Following back-to-back wins at Warwick and Chepstow, the four-year-old finished second to Harry Derham’s Givemefive at Cheltenham in October, prompting connections to send him to Fairyhouse for the Grade Three WillowWarm Hurdle. Dickin’s charge raised his game to turn the tables on Givemefive and passed the post an excellent third behind the Willie Mullins-trained Anzadam and Gordon Elliott’s Kala Conti. Mullins hailed the winner as “something special” in the aftermath and raised the Champion Hurdle as a potential long-term target, so it is no surprise Dickin returned to her Somerset yard proud of her stable star’s performance. “I was absolutely delighted with him,” said Dickin. “Willie obviously had high praise for the winner, Kala Conti is a very good horse and we gave her a bit of a scare. “I think our horse has probably improved again and put up a career-best performance on Saturday, which is hugely exciting.” Dodger Long is now set for a mid-season holiday before being targeted at major handicaps in the spring, with a return to Cheltenham high on the agenda. Dickin added: “We’re going to give him a bit of a break now as he was on the go during the summer. We’ll give him a few weeks off until Christmas and put him in and out of the paddock and hopefully go handicapping in the spring. “He’s rated 135 now and you’d like to think there’s a big one in him. He’ll certainly run in something at the Festival and hopefully go to Aintree after that. “It is tough for four-year-olds turning five, but I think he’ll do well for a little break and hopefully we’ll be on fresh legs going into the spring.”
