Meade considers Go Native options

Noel Meade believes Go Native has rediscovered his very best form judged on his scintillating victory at Galway on Monday.

A previous winner of the Supreme Novices' Hurdle at Cheltenham, Go Native was sent off favourite for the 2010 Champion Hurdle following victories in the Fighting Fifth at Newcastle and the Christmas Hurdle at Kempton earlier in the season.

But the nine-year-old suffered an injury at Prestbury Park that would sideline him for well over two years and connections must have questioned whether he would ever return.

However, he was a highly-promising third in a Flat race at Navan on his comeback earlier this month and he took another big step forward to win in most impressive style under Nina Carberry earlier this week.

The Dobbins & Madigans @ Punchestown Morgiana Hurdle on November 18 is his most likely next port of call, but Meade is not completely ruling out a return trip to Newcastle on December 1.

Meade said: "He's come out of the race fine. There's not a bother on him and that's the main thing with him now, keeping him in one piece.

"We were hoping he would win and do it well as he did a fabulous piece of work in a schooling race at Fairyhouse a few days earlier.

"You'd have to say the way he travelled through the race and quickened up in the straight, he seems to be right back to his best.

"We'll see how we go but if he stays right, it will be a similar plan to what we've done in the past.

"We'll think about the Fighting Fifth but at this stage I'd be more inclined to stay at home with him and go for the Morgiana in Punchestown.

"We'll see what happens there and if all went well, we could make a plan to run in either Leopardstown or Kempton at Christmas."

While Go Native has always been considered a good ground horse in the past, Meade believes his latest victory is further evidence more testing conditions do not trouble him as much as once thought.

"I think we maybe made too much of an issue with the ground in the past (thinking he wanted good ground). The ground was very good the day he got the injury at Cheltenham," said the trainer.

"He won a race in Naas before he won the Supreme on very soft ground and it was soft ground again in Galway the other day, so he has decent form on it."