Gift Bypasses Cotswold Outing Iris´s Gift is set to have his prep race for the totesport Cheltenham Gold Cup next month after connections decided to miss a possible engagement on Saturday. The Jonjo O´Neill-trained grey was not among the entries for the Letheby & Christopher Cotswold Chase at Cheltenham, and two races on February 18 are now being considered for the 2004 Stayers´ Hurdle winner. They are the totesport Chase at Lingfield, in which he finished fifth on his fencing debut last year, and the Red Square Vodka Gold Cup at Haydock. 'I´ve spoken to Jonjo and we just thought we´d give him a bit more time, but he´s in good form,' said owner Robert Lester. 'We´re just giving him a confidence boost to get himself right. 'There´s nothing wrong with the horse and he´s still on target for March 17. 'There´s that race at Lingfield he went for last year, a race at Haydock - there´s a few options. 'He´s in great form at home. Jonjo wanted to give him an extra week or two, then one spin and straight for the big one.' Iris´s Gift, a top-priced 25-1 for the Gold Cup, fell at the fourth-last fence when leading in a Warwick novice chase on his latest start.(C) PA Sport
