Leading Tote Cheltenham Gold Cup hope Florida Pearl has been given an alternative option in Japan, it emerged today.
Willie Mullins has put last Sunday's Hennessy Cognac Gold Cup winner - third at Cheltenham last year - in the inaugural Nakayama Grand Jump, a very valuable chase to be run on April 15th.
Stable-companions Palette and Its Time For A Win are also among 16 Irish nominations revealed today for the extended two-and-a-half-mile contest, along with Dermot Weld's Champion Hurdle possible Stage Affair.
Britain's 21 entries include leading Irish Independent Arkle Chase fancy Bellator (trained by Venetia Williams) and last year's Queen Mother Champion Chase second Edredon Bleu (Henrietta Knight).
The race - worth £444,444 to the winner - has also attracted 17 nominations from France, three from the USA, 11 from Australia and 21 from New Zealand.
There will be a maximum of eight foreign runners in a 16-runner field for the race, with invitations and reserves to be announced a fortnight today.
Florida Pearl, one of the leading fancies for the Tote Cheltenham Gold Cup, was a surprise nomination but looks most unlikely to make the trip to Japan.
When asked what was the chance of the winner of Sunday's Hennessy Gold Cup running, trainer Willie Mullins replied: 'Not much!'
Paddy's Return will definitely take his chance in the race if he gets invited.
Ferdy Murphy said: "Christiansted has also been nominated but I am led to believe that a trainer is allowed only one runner and we have had the race mapped out for 'Paddy's' in the hope that he will get in - a committee will meet to chose the runners and the list will be released on February 24th.
"He has won in England, Ireland and France and I think he will get in so we are working to that end and he is in great form at the moment.
"We will probably give him an entry at Musselburgh next week and he could go there but the intention is to give him a race somewhere over two and a half miles before the end of the month to keep him sharp."
The race comes a month after the Cheltenham Festival and Murphy reasoned: "They have to go out there three weeks before to fit in with the quarantine regulations so we might give him an entry in the Cathcart at Cheltenham.
"We will be taking out our own food for him and of course Adrian (Maguire) will ride him - we are looking forward to it."
