'All roads lead to Cheltenham' for Answer To Kayf

The Jack Richards Novices’ Limited Handicap Chase at Cheltenham next month is the target for Terence O'Brien's stable star Answer To Kayf.

A fine fourth in the Martin Pipe at last year's Festival, the eight-year-old impressed when trouncing 10 rivals at Naas last month.

"We were obviously delighted to win (at Naas) although getting a 12lb penalty wasn't part of the plan. The drop in class was a big help to him," O'Brien commented.

"He actually came out of the race stiff behind for a few days but he is fine again and all roads lead to Cheltenham.

"The trouble at Cheltenham is he is only qualified for one (handicap) chase, which is the novice over 2m4f but we would prefer to run him in a longer distance race. He would need an extra fourth run to qualify for the longer distance race and would also need to be placed so we are hamstrung really.

"You'd love to run him on soft ground but you don't know this year what way the ground will go."

Additional reporting by Thomas Weekes