Limestone Lad will miss out on Liverpool next week and instead will be prepared for Punchestown in May.
Speculation had been growing that the James Bowe-trained star would be tempted back to England for the Martell Aintree Hurdle, just a matter of weeks following Limestone Lad's eventful stay at Cheltenham which culminated in a second to Bachannal in the Stayers Hurdle.
But Bowe's son, Michael, yesterday played down that speculation and insisted the Ballymore Properties Stayers Hurdle will be the horse's Punchestown target.
'Aintree is not a realistic target,' he said. 'I've been studying the long-term forecast for over there and it will probably end up fast ground, which wouldn't suit our horse.
'And the track wouldn't be ideal either. It's flat and level which suits horses like She's Our Mare or Lady Rebecca. It's a speed track with no undulations, which is not ideal for us. With that thrown in, it's too long a journey to risk ending up with fast ground,' Bowe added.
He reported, however, that Limestone Lad is in 'fantastic condition', a state that Bowe can only envy as he is only now recovering from a severe bout of flu which laid him low after Cheltenham.
'I think the stress of that week caught up with me, but the horse is as strong as a bull and has put on loads of condition since coming home,' Bowe declared, before saying Istabraq's retirement for the season has not tempted him to target the Shell Champion Hurdle for Limestone Lad.
'With Istabraq gone, that's probably an even hotter race. It's been thrown wide open,' he said. 'Anyway, at the start of May the ground will be good and the longer trip will suit us more. The only ground that would stop us from running though would be firm.'
A run in the Grade One Ballymore could result in Limestone Lad clashing once again with Bachannal, who beat him at Cheltenham and is an intended runner at Punchestown.
One horse that will be far from Punchestown, however, is Hill Society, who will fly the Irish flag in the Nakayama Grand Jump, worth a colossal £474,975.
The race will be run outside Tokyo on April 15th, and with prize money down to eighth, Hill Society could put the sheen on what has already been a superb month for Noel Meade, who trained his first Cheltenham winner with Sausalito Bay.
'Moscow Express was taken out and we were second reserve, so we're off,' said Meade's partner, Gillian O'Brien, yesterday. 'Hill Society is leaving here on Friday, will have two days in England and will be flown to Japan on Monday.'
