Gold Given Aon Option Martin Pipe will leave the door open for totesport Cheltenham Gold Cup hope Celestial Gold to run in the Aon Chase at Newbury on Saturday. Pipe will make his mind up later in the week whether to give last year´s Paddy Power Gold Cup and Hennessy Cognac Gold Cup winner an outing before heading to the Cheltenham Festival. 'I think Martin is going to enter Celestial Gold for Newbury along with a couple more and I will leave the decision about whether he runs to him,' said owner David Johnson. 'We were all disappointed when Cheltenham was called off last weekend because he was all set to run in the Cotswold Chase before it was transferred to Wincanton. 'We know he goes well fresh and I am open-minded whether he should have a prep or go straight to Cheltenham without a run.' Should he run at Newbury, Celestial Gold could clash with last year´s Gold Cup second Take The Stand. The 10-year-old also missed out on the rearranged Cotswold Chase as the course was unsuitable. 'He worked as well as he has all season on Saturday morning and while I´m sad that Cheltenham was called off, he´ll hopefully get his favourite good ground at Newbury,' said trainer Peter Bowen.(C) PA Sport
