O’Loughlin weighing up Windsor trip for Lapin

A piece of work on Saturday could prove key to deciding if Jeannot Lapin heads to Windsor next week, with the Irish raider currently deemed “50-50” for a shot at the Fitzdares Lightning Novices’ Chase.

A shock 150-1 debut winner of a hot beginners’ chase at Leopardstown over the Christmas period, trainer Gearoid O’Loughlin now has the exciting task of searching for an opportunity in deeper waters for the strapping six-year-old, who measures at over 18 hands.

Windsor’s Grade Two event, worth £75,000 on day one of the inaugural Berkshire Winter Million weekend, is being considered by connections, but they could instead decide to stay closer to home after the Grade One Goffs Irish Arkle at the Dublin Racing Festival attracted just nine early entrants.

“He seems in good old form and he’s going to do a little bit of work on Saturday and that will kind of define if we are going to Windsor or not,” said O’Loughlin.

“Initially, we thought the ground may have been nicer, so that has thrown a little spanner in the works and then the entries came out for the Irish Arkle and we were thinking there might be a few more entries for the race and there’s only nine entered and it could cut down to five or six.

“We’re 50-50 to go to Windsor, but we will be prepared to go.”

No matter whether Jeannot Lapin heads to Windsor or Leopardstown for his next start, it appears a trip to the Cheltenham Festival is off the cards this season, with O’Loughlin eager to mind his raw and inexperienced chasing prospect.

Instead, the County Meath handler has placed a bullseye on Navan’s Flyingbolt Novice Chase on March 1, which could lead to a trip to Liverpool for the Grand National meeting later in the spring.

“We’re not putting Cheltenham in the picture, so if he runs at Windsor it works for us and if he runs in the Irish Arkle it works for us, because I’m working back from the Grade Three Flyingbolt Novice at Navan,” continued O’Loughlin.

“I’m not too panicky where we go, it will work either way, and he’s just so big I want to mind him.

“Speaking hypothetically, if he gets close to one of the nice horses and continues to do well, we would be putting Aintree on the cards rather than Cheltenham.”

Owned by Dominic Jones, Jeannot Lapin was remarkably purchased for just £3,000 having failed to make his mark in the pointing field.

However, O’Loughlin feels that would have been a tough ask given his towering stature, with his gamble on the son of Doctor Dino – who is out of a half-sister to Champion Hurdle-winning Epatante – already vindicated having scooped a winner’s cheque of €10,325 in the Irish capital at Christmas.

O’Loughlin added: “Sometimes you have to think around the box. It’s a good story and he looks to be a little different. He could be a bit of a freak, but he has a pedigree to back him up and he just has size.

“To be fair to the man I bought him off at the sales, he wouldn’t have been an easy horse to train for point-to-points. We measured him and he’s 18 hands and a little bit more along with it, so I couldn’t imagine he would have been easy to train.

“There was only one point-to-point winner by Doctor Dino in Ireland last year and I got sick of listening to lads giving out about Doctor Dino and how his don’t stay in point-to-points – that’s how I came up with the idea of buying him.”