Berbas on trial for Festival Alan Fleming is keen to find out whether Gwencily Berbas could be Cheltenham Festival material when he runs his new recruit in the Bambury Bookmakers Juvenile Hurdle at Fairyhouse. Best known for training the classy hurdler Starluck to numerous victories on British soil a few years ago, Fleming is now based at the Curragh back in his homeland and trains principally for leading owner Barry Connell. French import Gwencily Berbas, who holds entries in the Triumph Hurdle and the Fred Winter at Cheltenham next month, carries the Connell silks in this weekend's Grade Two as he makes his first appearance since winning at Auteuil in October. Fleming said: "He's a nice horse, but we've only had him a couple of months and we're going into the unknown with him. We're hoping for a good, solid run, but we'll know a lot more about where we stand after the race." Gwencily Berbas will face just a couple of rivals in a race won last year by subsequent Grade One scorer Abbyssial. Gordon Elliott's Vercingetorix looks to get back on track after disappointing in the Spring Juvenile Hurdle at Leopardstown a fortnight ago, while the Noel Meade-trained Lettre De Cachet was fifth in the same Grade One event on his jumping bow.
