David Pipe© Photo Healy Racing
The David Pipe-trained King Turgeon takes the next step in his career in the Sonic The Hedgehog 3 Coming Soon Handicap Chase at Cheltenham on Friday.
The six-year-old has been seen twice this season, starting out in a three-and-a-quarter-mile handicap at Chepstow where he was a 10-length winner after a neat round of jumping.
He headed next to the Grand Sefton at Aintree, where he encountered the Grand National fences for the first time and evidently found them to his liking when skipping round to win comfortably.
The Becher Chase was his next target back in Liverpool last weekend, but Storm Darragh intervened and it was no real surprise when the meeting was abandoned due to high winds.
He has therefore been rerouted to Cheltenham, where he clashes with the likes of Kim Bailey’s Chianti Classico.
“He’s in great form, he’s at the right end of the weights and we hope he can run a big race,” said Pipe.
“He’ll like the track and the ground, Kim Bailey’s horse is probably the one we’ve all got to beat.
“He’s got to produce a career-best to win, but he’s been amazing in what he’s achieved so far this season and everything else is a bonus.
“We didn’t even leave last Saturday morning, so he’s full of beans and ready for action.”
Chianti Classico was last seen winning the Sodexo Gold Cup Handicap by three lengths at Ascot on his seasonal debut and is another in Cheltenham action after the loss of the Becher, with Nigel Twiston-Davies’ The Newest One set for his third run at Cheltenham this season.
Dan Skelton’s Ballygrifincottage, Henry Oliver’s Java Point and Sam Thomas’ Our Power are all involved, with Venetia Williams’ 12-year-old Chambard the veteran in the field and Izino d’Airy an interesting contender from the French stable of Guillaume Fabre.
