Cooldine to reappear in Durkan Chase Willie Mullins mapped out plans for his RSA Chase hero Cooldine in an open morning at his Co. Carlow yard today. The seven-year-old showed steady improvement throughout the last campaign and turned in arguably the most impressive performance of the entire Cheltenham Festival when destroying his rivals by 16 lengths and more. Mullins admits there is still work to do to challenge the likes of current Gold Cup hero Kauto Star and his stable companion Denman, but he may be given a chance to test his mettle against the former in the King George VI Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day. "Cooldine is in great order and is just one of those horses that has continued to improve with racing," said Mullins. "At the moment we're looking to start him off in the John Durkan Memorial Chase at Punchestown and then we'll be looking at something over Christmas with him. The Lexus would be an obvious target but that has not been the luckiest race for us over the years and we might just have a look at the King George for him. "I prefer not to travel over to England with horses early in the season and will stay at home with them if possible, but if the right race comes up, then we will go. That could be the case with the King George and Cooldine and, while the track might not be ideal, it will do him good to get jumping at pace round there. "He probably needs to improve another 8lb or 10lb to challenge the best of them but he could just do that as he just seems to be getting better all the time. He has all the qualities you need as he stays well and is as tough as they come, so he could just make the grade for a Gold Cup."
