Arkle tilt on the cards for Articulum Terence O'Brien is set to send Articulum straight to the Racing Post Arkle Trophy at Cheltenham next month. A good winner at Naas in January, O'Brien had wanted to run at the Dublin Racing Festival and when fast ground ruled that out a trip to Warwick was on the cards, only to be scuppered by the enforced equine flu shutdown in Britain. "He is going to go straight to Cheltenham now, and he will probably go for the Arkle. He is in great form and we were trying to get a race into him in the last three weeks, but unfortunately we couldn't," said O’Brien. "He was due to run in Leopardstown, but the ground was just too quick for him there. Then he was entered in a race at Warwick, but the flu outbreak stopped that plan. "We’ll just wait now for Cheltenham and hopefully we will have him fit enough for the Arkle. "The English handicapper has him in at 145, and if he is right then he mightn’t be a million miles away in the Arkle. "Hopefully if he runs up to his mark he will run OK in it." He added: "He is rated 138 here and if he was that in England I would have been tempted to run him in the (Close Brothers) novice handicap. I think on balance we’ll just let him take a chance in the Arkle. "It's not often that you get a chance to go in a big race like it. We’ll enjoy the limelight for one day, or for five minutes anyway! "He is such a big horse that I would probably prefer a level track for him, but I’d be hopeful enough that he’ll be OK with Cheltenham. "Over two miles I don’t see the hill being a huge problem to him, over two and a half it might be different. We’ll find out in three weeks anyway."
