Native River© Photo Healy Racing
Former Denis Ahern-trained point-to-pointer and Grade One-winning chaser Native River could make his seasonal reappearance in Wetherby's bet365 West Yorkshire Hurdle next weekend.
Trained by Colin Tizzard, the six-year-old finished second in the four-mile National Hunt Chase at the Cheltenham Festival before beating Henri Parry Morgan in the Mildmay Novices' Chase at Aintree.
He is being trained with a crack at the Hennessy Gold Cup in mind but connections are keen to see how he gets on back over hurdles first.
"We just told Richard (Johnson) at Aintree to go out in front as fast as you can for as long as you can and luckily it worked," Garth Broom, of owners Brocade Racing, told At The Races.
"His main aim will be the Hennessy but we're thinking about going to Wetherby for the West Yorkshire Hurdle.
"The thinking is if he runs well he doesn't get a penalty and if he runs very well we've got the hurdling route to go down as he is only six.
"We'll keep our options open. Off a mark of 154 over fences, if he's going to make the improvement we hope he will then he should be well in at Newbury, but he has to improve a stone plus to be a Gold Cup horse."
