O'Neill Sounds Black Jack Warning

Black Jack Ketchum's trainer Jonjo O'Neill would have no qualms about pulling his budding superstar out of the Ladbrokes World Hurdle if the ground remains as it is at Cheltenham.

Last month's Byrne Bros Cleeve Hurdle at the track, run on heavy ground, was the scene of the gelding's first ever racecourse defeat when he was a lifeless fifth behind Blazing Bailey.

O'Neill was unable to find anything medically or physically wrong with Black Jack Ketchum, and with the ground currently soft on the Old Course and soft, heavy in places on the New, he is definitely hoping for things to dry up.

'If the ground was like this he won't run,' he said.

'We wouldn't punish him in bad ground. We would love to come here, we want to come here, but it is not the end of the world and there is always Aintree and Punchestown.'

Confirming the well-being of the sponsors' 5-4 favourite, O'Neill added: 'He is grand. He's a very good horse who has done everything right.

'We got carried away with him and ran him in ground he didn't like. We did all the tests on him and nothing showed, so if the ground is bottomless at Cheltenham, he won't run.'

Having had Black Jack Ketchum as their 5-4 favourite despite his Cleeve Hurdle no-show, the sponsors have now eased him out to 7-4.

They have also seen support for 2005 World Hurdle hero Inglis Drever (4s from 9-2), Adrian Maguire's Celestial Wave (9s from 10-1) and Nicky Henderson's Temoin (20s from 25-1), all proven soft-ground performers.

David Williams, spokesman for Ladbrokes, said: 'We still firmly believe that Black Jack is the class act in the race, but all the vibes from the racecourse suggest it could be softer than than we all expected.

'He clearly didn't enjoy conditions last time out and all the recent money has been for the proven soft ground specialists. We've had to shorten them up accordingly.'

(C) PA Sport