Straw Bear still aims for Cheltenham

Feb 4 2008 by Chris Wright, Liverpool Daily Post

DESPITE his defeat by Afsoun in the totepool Contenders Hurdle, Straw Bear will still be heading to Cheltenham for the Smurfit Kappa Champion Hurdle.

Nick Gifford’s gelding lost by three and a half lengths to the NickyHenderson-trained Afsoun.

Gifford reported his charge to fine yesterday, but bookmakers have pushed the JP McManus-owned seven-year-old out to 25-1 (totesport, Paddy Power) for the Champion Hurdle behind market leaders Sizing Europe and Sublimity.

Gifford said: “He’s absolutely fine. In the cold light of day he ran a very similar race to the one he did there last year (second behind Detroit City). He came there after the last but he didn’t quite get up the hill but we live to fight another day.

“Afsoun is a bit like us on our day. They are good horses but they are probably just a shade below the very top level.

“We are there to have a go at the top boys and both horses deserve to have a go at the Champion.

“That is still the plan. Obviously I need to have a chat with the owner but there is nowhere else to run him so he might as well go there,” Gifford told At The Races.

Meanwhile Afsoun is also 25-1 with totesport for the Champion Hurdle, in which he was third behind Sublimity last year.

Henderson said: “We have got to go for the Champion Hurdle after that but I am not saying he is going to win it and there aren’t that many options for him.”