Trainer Kim Bailey© Photo Healy Racing
Kim Bailey has not ruled out the possibility of sending Vinndication to the Punchestown Festival in a bid to get his career back on track.
The six-year-old saw his unbeaten record come to an end when finishing third behind leading Arkle and JLT contender Defi Du Seuil in a Grade One contest at Sandown last month.
Vinndication failed to sparkle in a racecourse gallop at Newbury last Sunday, prompting Bailey to bypass the Cheltenham Festival and look towards possible targets later in the spring.
Bailey said: “As Gordon Elliott rightly said, you can’t take a horse to Cheltenham which is not 100 per cent.
“David Bass rode him yesterday morning and was perfectly happy with him, but he didn’t go how I wanted him to go at Newbury on Sunday and that confirmed we would not go to Cheltenham.
“I don’t think his season his over and we will look at Punchestown and other places for him to run.
“He can run over two and a half or three miles, so I am pretty sure we can find a race for him.”
The Andoversford handler warned that stablemate Imperial Aura, who made it two from two over hurdles with victory at Newcastle on his most recent start, may have run his final race of the season.
He added: “Imperial Aura is a big horse and it is all about nurturing him as it is all about going novice chasing with him. He might not run again this season, but I’m not sure yet.
“He had sore shins after he won at Carlisle and that is why it has taken time to get him back on track.”
