Gone To Lunch At The Top Table A year ago, Jeremy Scott was preparing a promising seven-year-old point-to-pointer called Gone To Lunch for an ambitious tilt at the Christie's Foxhunter Chase at The Festival. A fall four out put paid to the plan but roll on a year and the Somerset trainer is again dreaming of saddling the same gelding to Cheltenham glory. The horse has come a long way in a short time, so much so that he is now at the head of the betting for the £100,000 Grade One Albert Bartlett Novices' Hurdle following a fine third behind two-time Ladbrokes World Hurdle champion Inglis Drever in the Grade Two Byrne Group Cleeve Hurdle at Cheltenham on Festival Trials Day, January 26. The gelding - boasting an official rating of 151 - is one of 106 high-class entries for the fourth running of the three-mile championship contest, run on Friday, March 14, which was won last year by the Jonjo O'Neill-trained Wichita Lineman, and has been upgraded to Grade One status for the first time in 2008. Scott revealed today: 'The plan is to almost certainly run him at The Festival in the Albert Bartlett Novices' Hurdle. We're very excited by his effort behind Inglis Drever, he did everything we hoped he would and a bit more, so that was fantastic. 'I guess it's fair to say that he's the best I've trained. He ran at The Festival last year and tipped up four out in the Christie's Foxhunter Chase. It was a bit of a bold move us taking him up there but we knew we had a good horse. He has exceeded all expectations over hurdles really.' Switched to hurdles after that debut under Rules, Gone To Lunch rattled off a quartet of triumphs between June and November, including in the Leamington Novices' Hurdle over an extended three miles and a furlong at Cheltenham in October. He then went down by a length and a quarter to the classy Nenuphar Collonges when attempting to concede 7lb to that rival in the Grade Two Albert Bartlett Novices' Hurdle over the course and distance in December, before taking on Inglis Drever. Scott continued: 'I would be fairly confident of him running a big race again. He goes well on good and good to firm ground so if it was quickish ground at The Festival then that wouldn't worry me and equally, he seemed to handle that good to soft the other day. 'Age is probably against him but I think he's a bit of a spring horse, so whilst there's not a huge amount of improvement in there, there's probably a tiny bit - I'd be fairly hopeful of a big run. If he was a six-year-old I probably would never have run him in the Byrne Group Cleeve Hurdle anyway. He'd been around the block a bit so I thought we'd take our chance. 'We raced him for two or three seasons point-to-pointing after buying him in Ireland as a four-year-old. We brought him up through the ranks and he earned his place at Cheltenham last year by winning a couple of Opens.' Scott has about 20 horses, eight of whom he trains under public licence at Higher Holworthy Farm within the bounds of Exmoor and is no stranger to success at Prestbury Park, having also saddled County Derry to victory at Cheltenham's Hunter Chase meeting in April, 2004. The same horse competed three times in the Christie's Foxhunter Chase at The Festival, finishing third to Earthmover in the 2004 renewal. Gone To Lunch, like County Derry, is owned by Gary Leavy who is involved in the property business in London and is Scott's principal patron. The trainer said: 'Gary Leavy owns and has shares in about four or five horses here and is a fantastic owner. His first horse was County Derry who did so well at Cheltenham and after that the racing bug got hold of him.'
