Texas Jack an impressive winner of the Boylesports.com – Bet On Your Mobile Novice Steeplechase (Grade 2) on Saturday is unlikely to take a crack at the Boylesports.com bonus offer at Cheltenham.
If the winner of the Boylesports.com – Bet On Your Mobile Novice Steeplechase goes on to land any one of the Arkle Chase, Jewson Novices’ Chase or RSA Chase at Cheltenham, winning connections will receive a bonus of €50,000 from Boylesports. From Saturday, Texas Jack is eligible for the bonus if he completes the double, but according to trainer Noel Meade the Cheltenham Festival is not in his targets this year.
Instead he is eyeing up the Powers Gold Cup and the Punchestown and Fairyhouse Festivals
The seven-year-old had previously finished third in the Drinmore and Topaz Grade One novice chases and is really beginning to get his act together over fences. He has looked a class act since winning the 2011 Goffs Land Rover Bumper at the Punchestown Festival.
“He was always a bit light and skinny but he’s starting to fill out a bit – hopefully he’s improving as well doing that,” Meade told At The Races.
“He’s come out of the race really well, I would think it’s unlikely that he’d travel to Cheltenham, I think he’ll stay at home and he might go for the (Dr PJ) Moriarty Chase and I would hope the Powers Gold Cup would come into the equation as well.
“I don’t think he’ll cross the water. Punchestown will come into it and we’ll have him for the end of the season – there’s a couple of nice races he can run in.”
