Balnaslow on course for Cheltenham return

Balnaslow is on course for a return to the Cheltenham Festival for the St James's Place Foxhunter Chase despite being held up by recent freezing conditions.

Graham McKeever's charge was one of the leading hunter chasers last season, with the highlight of his campaign coming with a thrilling victory at Punchestown.

He finished a close fifth behind Pacha Du Polder at Prestbury Park last year and also chased home Dineur over the Grand National fences at Aintree.

The 11-year-old has only had one outing this year, when pulling up in testing conditions in a point-to-point at Kirkistown last month, but McKeever expects him to improve considerably for better ground.

He said: "The plan is to head to Cheltenham.

"We've been a bit disturbed with the weather and we've just had him on the walker because it's been frozen solid for the last week.

"We're under pressure to get him out and get him going, but hopefully when this snow and frost goes away, we'll get him out and get him to Cheltenham."

Reflecting on last year, McKeever said: "It was unbelievable and he was in great form last year. We're just hoping he can do the same again this year.

"We had a good clean run with him last year, which helped.

"We ran him at Kirkistown and he pulled up. It was disappointing in a way, but when you take everything into consideration, with the ground and the winter that we've had, he'll be grand.

"It's not ideal going to Cheltenham having pulled up, but he's qualified and he's not getting any younger so why not.

"The better ground always brings improvement in him."