Celestial Gold to appear at Hereford
Celestial Gold could make his eagerly-awaited reappearance over timber at Hereford later this week as connections elected to bypass a chase at Leicester on Tuesday.
Owned by David Johnson and trained by David Pipe, the talented yet injury-plagued 10-year-old has not been seen since winning the Betfair Bowl at Aintree in 2006.
Celestial Gold, also a former Paddy Power and Hennessy Gold Cup winner, could grace the track for only the third time in almost three years in the Weatherbys Printing Novices’ Hurdle on Thursday.
Regular jockey Timmy Murphy said: “He’s in at Hereford and he might have a run in a hurdle race.
“I think the main target is the Pillar Chase (Letheby & Christopher Chase) at Cheltenham (January 26).
He’s a very talented horse but he’s not the easiest ride at home,” he told At The Races.
“He probably doesn’t do himself any favours as on the track as he’s usually a little bit wound-up. They will do a good job to get him back to his best.”
