Le Vent D'Antan© Photo Healy Racing
Trainer Liz Doyle is looking forward to seeing youngster Le Vent D'Antan get his season up and running in the Fairyhouse Schooling Races Maiden Hurdle.
The five-year-old made a huge impression when winning a hot bumper at Leopardstown at the end of January last year and was joint-favourite for the Champion Bumper at the Cheltenham Festival.
Le Vent D'Antan was far from disgraced in finishing seventh behind the likes of Briar Hill, Regal Encore and The Liquidator, but has not been seen so far this season after suffering from stomach ulcers.
Doyle, who landed a double at Naas on Saturday, is hopeful her charge is over his problems and hopes he can earn himself a tilt at some of the top novice prizes in the spring with a prominent showing.
She said: "The ulcers have been the problem all season, but we didn't realise it at first. He was off his feed and just wasn't firing, but the problem with ulcers is it can be hard to pick them up, as all the blood tests and scopes come back fine.
"Hopefully we've sorted the problem now and he's come on a good bit in the last couple of weeks. He looks well and I'm very happy with him. His schooling has been very good and he is very bubbly. He's put plenty of weight on since he had the treatment for ulcers and seems in much better form.
"Let's get his first run out of the way before we make any plans for the rest of the season.
"We'll give him the entry in the Grade One at Leopardstown next month (Deloitte Novice Hurdle), but obviously he'll have to get his head in front before we can be thinking about races like that."
