Play In Fit State For Hennessy Bid

Promising second-season chaser State Of Play will head directly to Newbury for the Hennessy Cognac Gold Cup without a prep run.

Evan Williams has been pleased with the six-year-old as the build-up to the November 25 showpiece gathers momentum ? but warned the race could prove a fact-finding mission.

State Of Play created a huge impression when winning a valuable handicap by 16 lengths at the Grand National meeting, but Williams knows his charge must improve again to be competitive in the £125,000 handicap.

'State Of Play is grand and I couldn't be happier with his preparation,' said the Cowbridge handler.

'It's always been our plan to go straight to the Hennessy with him and although we have a few weeks to go, his preparation has gone very, very well.

'At the end of the day, I think all we can look forward to is the Hennessy as we don't know at this stage if he's even good enough to run in it, let alone progress afterwards.

'I think the most sensible thing to do is to run him in the Hennessy, see how we get on, and if he runs well, we'll know that he can mix it with that class of animal.

'If he doesn't run so well we'll have to drop him back in class and try win some lower-class races.

'We'll start in the Hennessy, hope for a bit of good luck and hope he can progress.

'If not, it's been a good dream trying to get there and it's nice to live the dream sometimes.'

(C) PA Sport