No rush with Cyclone

Hidden Cyclone
(Healy Racing Photos)

John "Shark" Hanlon revealed that his smart chaser got worked up after slipping when going out to parade in front of the stands before the Christmas feature.

After showing up well in the early stages and leading the field for a while from the sixth fence, Hidden Cyclone had spent all his energy before the business end of the Grade One over three miles and trailed home last of the eight finishers behind Tidal Bay.

Hanlon reports the horse to be none the worse and has decided to put a line through that race.

"He came out of the ring perfect but when they went out for the parade in front of the stands, he just slipped and from then on Andrew (McNamara, jockey) wasn't happy," said the County Carlow trainer.

"He said the horse was just too hyper the whole way. He meant to jump out about fourth or fifth, but he jumped out third and after the first he was in front and he couldn't do anything about it.

"It is a run we can just write off. He just wasn't used to the parade and the big day.

"He's in great form, but we don't know what we are going to do with him yet.

"There are plenty of graded races and we'll him in one and then make up our minds where we are going to go, whether we go for the Cheltenham Gold Cup or the Ryanair or whatever."