Trainer Jamie Snowden has no doubts about the potential of Sky Bet Chase Ga Law, with a chance to compete in the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 2024 close behind the star chaser.
The seven-year-old returned with a superb performance at the Paddy Power Gold Cup meeting in November, just beating French Dynamite to claim the £90,000 prize under Johnny Burke.
And while the original plan was to go to Ascot, that was canceled due to the ice and instead attention will turn to Doncaster and the Sky Bet Chase, live this Saturday on Sky Sports Racing.
Johnny Burke lifts the Paddy Power Gold Cup with victory over Ga Law at Cheltenham
He also has a chance to enter Cheltenham, but Snowden hopes to send his established star on a trip to the $100,000 Doncaster over three miles.
“The plan was for him to go on tour and he won Paddy Power [Gold Cup] confidence after a bit of racing,” Snowden told Sky Sports Racing.
“Ascot seemed like the best way to do it, but obviously it shouldn’t be in the Sky Bet Chase at Doncaster. There are two and four miles. [furlong] in Cheltenham where we put the entries but Sky Bet is plan A.
“He doesn’t want to run fast so a safe place is what we’re looking for. His best form hasn’t been on the bog but under Doncaster or Cheltenham he should be fine.”
Ga Law has also been given both Ryanair Chase and Cheltenham Gold Cup entries, and while odds of 66 and 100/1 in their races may suggest they are long, Snowden insists he feels his horse can be a Grade One player.
“I have set the record high but a lot depends on how the next few rounds go,” he added.
“Look at Imperial Commander, he won the Paddy Power and won the Ryanair that year and the Gold Cup the year after.
“It would be nice to think he could be a Gold Cup horse in 2024 but a lot of water has to pass under the bridge before that and he has to continue to do well.
“He’s just a young horse, only seven, and he’s got very few miles on the clock. There’s no reason he couldn’t control it.”
“I think it’s probably a little bit more up in the air this year but never say never.
“I was hoping if things went well at Ascot we could look at Denman at Newbury but it’s probably too close to Doncaster and Cheltenham.
“There is a three-mile race coming up at Kelso in March and of course the handicap at the Cheltenham Festival but a lot depends on how we go at the weekend.”
