Taipan heads straight for Arkle

Made In Taipan could go straight to Cheltenham for the Irish Independent Arkle Trophy following his mid-season break.

The seven-year-old had a total of six races in the first half of the season and after winning his first two starts over fences was beaten twice in 10 days at Leopardstown and Naas.

"He's had a break since his last run and we've not had a saddle on him since then," said trainer Tom Mullins.

"We'll probably ride him out towards the end of the week but if we don't we'll definitely start riding him out on Monday or Tuesday.

"You'll definitely see him at Cheltenham. We'll wait to see if we want to run him before then or not, but the target is the Arkle.

"We just think he was tired in his last couple of runs and we hope the break will have cured that."

Made In Taipan is available at around 25-1 for the Arkle at the Cheltenham Festival on March 10th.