Exotic Dancer to miss Hennessy

Jonjo O'Neill has ruled Exotic Dancer out of a trip to Leopardstown for the rearranged Hennessy Cognac Gold Cup.

The Lexus Chase winner was earlier allotted top-weight of 11st 10lb in the John Smith's Grand National and while that could still be on the agenda, O'Neill believes the seven-day delay means the Hennessy is too close to the Cheltenham Gold Cup.

The blue riband event, in which he was second to Kauto Star two years ago, is now firmly in his sights.

"He's not going to run in Ireland at the weekend and will go straight to the Gold Cup," said O'Neill.

"If he went to Leopardstown and had a hard race it could mean he'd have to miss the Gold Cup so he won't go.

"The plan is to go straight to the Gold Cup, win that and then go and win the National!"

Exotic Dancer is a general 12-1 chance for Gold Cup glory.