Trafford targets Hennessy Lar Butler is looking forward to running Trafford Lad in the Hennessy Gold Cup at Newbury following his young chaser's pleasing reappearance on Saturday. The seven-year-old was beaten less than two lengths into third place when giving weight to the first two, Tranquil Sea and Joncol, over two miles at Naas on his first run since April. "I was delighted with him. I wanted to give him a run to get some match practice into him before the Hennessy," said the owner-trainer. "He'll come on a good bit for the run and Tom (Doyle) said if he'd have jumped the last fence better he would have won, but I couldn't have been happier with him. "Early on he was a bit scratchy jumping and he was probably more ring-rusty than anything. They didn't go much of a gallop, which didn't really suit him. "I could have gone straight to Newbury but I'm glad now I gave him a run before as you wouldn't to make novicey mistakes early on in a competitive handicap chase like the Hennessy or else you would be out with the washing. "I could have run him over two and a half miles this week but the difference between the two races would then have been three weeks rather than four so that's why he ran in Naas. "He'll get the trip at Newbury, no bother."
