Burdett Road remains on Cheltenham course

James Owen is still keen to head to the Cheltenham Festival with Burdett Road but also has an eye on a return to the Flat for the Melbourne Cup in November.

The smart dual-purpose performer narrowly lost out to Golden Ace in Wincanton’s Kingwell Hurdle, going down by three-quarters of a length under Sam Twiston-Davies on good to soft ground.

Owen felt morning rain worked against him, while also a mistake two out hindered his cause further in the closing stages of the race.

“He made that error two out. He’s absolutely fine but the set up of the race didn’t help,” the trainer told At The Races.

“It rained in the morning which made the ground very loose and while he can cope with it on the Flat, he’s an explosive horse over his hurdles and he never really got into that fluent rhythm.

“He’s got a high cruising speed and we couldn’t really use it. I’m not taking anything away from the filly, she outbattled us in the end. We looked the winner turning in, made a mistake two out which opened the door and we couldn’t close it.

“I’m proud of how he ran, it opens the door so he’s having an entry in the County Hurdle and we’ll see what the Champion Hurdle picture looks like closer to the time.”

Having won a Listed race on the Flat in September, a return to that discipline is also very much on the agenda with his ultimate target already identified.

Owen added: “We’re still very keen to go to Cheltenham and we’re still very keen to have a Flat campaign with this horse as well, ending up hopefully at the Melbourne Cup, for which he’s got a lovely mark.

“We know he likes fast ground and the track will be perfect. We’ll go to some big places with him and have a lot of fun.”

Also heading to Cheltenham in March is the hugely-promising East India Dock, another horse owned and bred by the Gredley Family.

He made a perfect start to his hurdling career when winning at Wincanton on debut, after which he continued to shine when winning both Triumph trials at Cheltenham by significant margins.

Those victories tee him up nicely for the race itself in March, though the role of ante-post favourite is currently filled by Nicky Henderson’s Lulamba.

“He’s great, he’s been a thrill train really,” Owen said.

“He comes alive when he sees a hurdle. He’s won both trials at Cheltenham on both tracks, the new and the old.

“I couldn’t be happier with him and how he is at this stage, I’m looking forward to the Friday of Cheltenham.

“I wouldn’t swap our horse, Lulumba is a very talented horse and a very different type to our horse.

“The Irish horses are OK as well, the form hasn’t really crossed over yet so it’s hard to equate.

“I wouldn’t swap my horse and a bit of spring ground will hopefully eke out a bit more improvement.

“Sam (Twiston-Davies) gets on very well with him and we’re all looking forward to Cheltenham with him.”