Fighting Fifth start for crack hurdler Alexei

Alexei will start his campaign in the Fighting Fifth at Newcastle en route to another tilt at the Champion Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival.

Joe Tizzard's stable star was a valiant fourth behind Lossiemouth at Prestbury Park in March before backing up that performance with third in the Aintree Hurdle.

It was a meteoric rise from the six-year-old, who climbed 31lbs in seven races during a busy campaign, which also saw him claim Grade Two Kingwell Hurdle success.

Connections will now aim to maintain that top-tier momentum from last season when reappearing at Gosforth Park later in the autumn.

“The plan is to have a crack at the Champion Hurdle again, if he jumped the last a bit better he would have been second,” Tizzard said. “So we will probably start him up at Newcastle in the Fighting Fifth.

“He's not so high (in the ratings) that he couldn't go in a handicap, but we will see what happens.

“Garth and Anne (Broom) at Brocade Racing are keen to go down the Champion Hurdle route. He isn't a millions miles away from them, he only needs to improve another 6-7lbs, which if he improved like last season, that would put him right in the mix.

“He backed his form up at Aintree so he's an exciting horse for this season.”

Meanwhile, evergreen JPR One will not be heading Stateside for the American Grand National as previously planned.

The nine-year-old had been touted for the Far Hills race, which trainers Gordon Elliott, Nicky Henderson and John ‘Shark' Hanlon have all won in recent years.

However, he will begin his campaign closer to home, with Cheltenham earmarked for next month.

“We aren't going to go to America now,” the Venn Farm handler revealed. “We had long talks about it with John Romans (owner) and we just changed our mind against it.

“It was a nice idea, but it's not happening so he will probably start at Cheltenham, if the ground's OK, in October and then come back for the Shloer (in November).

“We have lots of options early doors, plenty of races with money on offer – there's Cheltenham, Haldon Gold Cup and back to the Shloer and then Ascot.

“So there's lots of options and we will have a crack at one of them. I think we will start him off over two miles and step him up as we see fit over the season.

“On his last run he just got touched off in a Grade One so he's about where he's at. If he gets pipped by some younger, lower-rated horses then he will drop a little bit.

“He's a veteran in the new year as well, he needs to drop a bit to get in those races, but we have plenty of options. He's a good horse and can still be competitive I think.”