Cleeve date for Lord Accord before chasing return
Neil Mulholland will send Lord Accord to the Dahlbury Stallions at Chapel Stud Cleeve Hurdle at Cheltenham before he goes back over fences.
The lightly-raced eight-year-old has won three of his nine starts over fences and triumphed in six of 17 races under rules, with three runner-up efforts to his name.
The consistent Yeats gelding won at Cheltenham in October, before chasing home previous King George VI Chase winner Frodon in the Badger Beer Handicap Chase at Wincanton.
His last run saw him finish ninth to Le Milos in the Coral Gold Cup at Newbury.
Mulholland is keen to give him a tune-up before going back over fences and said: “It wasn’t the worst run in the world in the Hennessy (Coral Gold Cup) and we have put him away for the winter now.
“Obviously, he won at Cheltenham and finished second in the Badger Ale.
“He will probably run in the Ultima Handicap Chase, but he will probably run in the Cleeve Hurdle in between.”
Meanwhile, Milkwood, who finished runner-up in the Welsh Champion Hurdle at Ffos Las before getting stuck in the mud when last of four to Knappers Hill in the Elite Hurdle at Wincanton, will be kept on the sidelines until the ground is better.
Mulholland added: “Milkwood got a little bit jarred up after Wincanton. We will just wait for a bit of nicer ground and to be fair, he will run more when the ground is right.
“He is in good order and we are happy with him.
“We have had minus 10Cs, minus 8Cs and I do feel that it has knocked the horses a little bit. It is hard to keep them on the go when it gets like that.”
