Gold Cup Target For Gift Iris´s Gift´s objective at the Cheltenham Festival will be the Gold Cup, according to owner Robert Lester. The 2004 Stayers´ Hurdle hero won his first three novice chases this season before suffering a shock reverse when beaten by subsequent Feltham Chase winner Darkness at Newbury in November. The Jonjo O´Neill-trained gelding is now only 16-1 with sponsors totesport following the news last year´s winner Kicking King is injured and will not be defending his crown in March. 'If he´s fit enough to go to Cheltenham he´ll go for the Gold Cup and not the Royal & SunAlliance,' said Lester. Lester also revealed the defection of several of the main contenders for jumping´s premier prize had no bearing on his thinking. 'Irrespective of what has happened to Kicking King and Trabolgan, the plan has always been in the back of our minds to go for the Gold Cup if we´re fit enough,' added the Nantwich publican. 'And there is definitely no reverting back to hurdles. 'As far as I´m concerned, we will be entered for one race at Cheltenham and that´s the Gold Cup. 'He´s had four novice chases and although he´s not as experienced over fences as he was over hurdles, I just think this could be his year. 'When he was novice hurdling he used to make a few mistakes and uproot one out of the ground. 'But when he got beat half-a-length by Baracouda in the Stayers´ Hurdle in 2003, that was the day he grew up. 'In better company he jumped better and he´ll jump fences better in better company.' Iris´s Gift will get the chance to do just that should he go to Cheltenham for the Letheby & Christopher Chase - formerly known as the Pillar Chase - on January 28. 'We´ll have a good look at the old Pillar Chase and there´s also a Grade Two novice chase at Warwick on the 14th of January,' said Lester. 'I imagine we´ll go for the Pillar and see where we are from there.' Lester was relieved when it was discovered Iris´s Gift was not quite right after being beaten on his latest start. He said: 'He´s in good form. He was all wrong after the Newbury race. 'Thank God there was some explanation for it, but take nothing away from the other horse. 'Jonjo texted me on Christmas Day to say the horse was in great form and we´ve a lot to look forward to in 2006. 'We have to put the Newbury run behind us, come out again and see where we go.' ? PA Sport
