No quick return for Tower Martello Tower will not turn out quickly for Sunday's Lawlor's Hotel Novice Hurdle at Naas following his determined triumph at Limerick earlier in the week. The Margaret Mullins-trained six-year-old showed he had suffered no ill effects from a heavy fall at Navan on his previous start by battling to victory over Outlander in a Grade Three event won 12 months earlier by the brilliant Faugheen. Martello Tower has been given an entry in this weekend's Grade One event in County Kildare, but Mullins is eyeing a possible trip to Leopardstown at the end of January. She said: "He's come out of the race grand, but he won't run this weekend. "He's just a very tough and unassuming horse who only does what he has to do at home. "We were delighted with him the other day as he had a heavy fall in Navan the time before and it was great to see him battle for it so well. "I don't know where we'll go with him next. I'll have a chat with Barry and see where he wants to go. "It could be that he goes to Leopardstown on January 25 for a Grade Two race, but we'll see." Mullins hopes a good showing on his next run can set up Martello Tower for a trip to the Cheltenham Festival, with the Albert Bartlett Novices' Hurdle his likely target. "I'd say if he goes to Cheltenham, it will be for the three-mile race," said the trainer. "He's a funny horse as he does everything his own way. He's never flashy. He just gets on and does it. "He won his bumper on goodish ground and it was summer soft ground when he won his maiden hurdle in Killarney, so hopefully better ground won't bother him."
