Western could head straight to Cheltenham

Western Boy is "highly unlikely" to line up in the Deloitte Novice Hurdle at Leopardstown on Sunday, with trainer Pat Fahy eyeing a tilt at the Supreme Novices' Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival.

The five-year-old made a big impression when making a winning debut over timber at Leopardstown on St Stephens Day before making long odds-on favourite Vautour pull out all the stops in the Moscow Flyer Novice Hurdle at Punchestown.

Fahy said: "He's not a gross horse at all. He's very slick and slight and runs well fresh, so I'm not sure I would run him at Leopardstown and then expect to have him 100 per cent right for Cheltenham. It's possible he'll go to Leopardstown, but I would say it's highly unlikely.

"He's not the sort of horse who needs a lot of racing, not this year anyway. He wouldn't be one you'd run every day and he doesn't carry a lot of condition. We'll just try and keep him healthy and well and if the ground came up good in Cheltenham I would be delighted.

"He is not the sort of horse I could see being at his best on heavy ground, even though he ran his best race on heavy the last day.

"He amazed me in Punchestown. He made a mistake at a crucial stage and normally, in that sort of ground, that's your race over. For him to come back and run so well was very pleasing. We'll keep tipping away with him."