Aintree the target for Jason The Militant

Henry de Bromhead has decided to skip Cheltenham with Jason The Militant and has a trip to Aintree now in the pipeline for the classy seven-year-old.

An impressive winner of the Red Mills Trial Hurdle at Fairyhouse last month, many observers had the son of Sans Frontieres as a live contender for the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham.

However, due to a combine of factors, de Bromhead has now decided to focus on Aintree with the Peter Michael owned gelding.

Speaking at Gowran this afternoon, the Knockeen based handler said: "He needs soft ground over two miles and is the type of fella that I wouldn't want to jar up if it was much better than that.

"We will aim him at Aintree over two and a half on a flat track. We would run him on good to soft there.

"Cheltenham comes a bit soon after the Red Mills so it was a combination of things really."