Fiveforthree on target for Punchestown Cheltenham winner Fiveforthree will bid to secure a Festival double at Punchestown at the end of the month. Trainer Willie Mullins has yet to conclusively decide which race he will target with the progressive six-year-old, but anticipates sticking to the two-and-a-half-mile trip at which he struck last month. "He´s entered in the vcbet.com Champion Novice Hurdle, the World Series Hurdle and the Land Rover Champion Novice Hurdle, but the latter, over two and a half miles, would probably be the most likely one for him at the moment," explained Mullins. "He ran well there last year and I´m looking forward to seeing him run again. "He moves like a real good ground horse. However, his wins are on soft ground so I don´t know. His pedigree suggests soft ground but to see him move, he looks like a good ground horse. He hasn´t won on good, though he was third in a bumper on it. "I´m delighted how well all of the horses have come out of Cheltenham. I think the watering of the ground at Cheltenham made a huge difference to how horses have come out of it." Two British-trained novices likely to make the trip across the Irish Sea are Howard Johnson´s Cool Operator and the appropriately-named Punchestowns, trained by Nicky Henderson. "He´s been very good since he came to me and we´re planning on getting another run into him, this week possibly," said the Seven Barrows trainer of the latter. "He might well come over for the Land Rover Champion Novice Hurdle." Others among a star-studded entry for the race include Venalmar, second to Fiveforthree at Cheltenham, and Aintree winner Elusive Dream. Johnson intends saddling impressive Catterick novice hurdle winner Cool Operator in the vcbet.com Champion Novice Hurdle, which also sees Captain Cee Bee and Cork All Star among 37 entries. "I´m planning to take Cool Operator to Punchestown," confirmed County Durham-based Johnson. "I made a mistake with this horse earlier in the season by running him on soft ground because he actually needs good ground. "I definitely want to win another race with him before the end of the season and Punchestown is on the agenda."
