Neil Mulholland is considering running his stable star Midnight Chase in the JNwine.com Champion Chase at Down Royal next month.
The nine-year-old proved to be a revelation last season, winning four in a row before finishing fifth in the Gold Cup at Cheltenham.
The options for the Lady Clarke-owned chaser include the Charlie Hall Chase at Wetherby or the star-studded Betfair Chase at Haydock, but Down Royal native Mulholland fancies a crack at the Grade One in Ireland.
"We're looking at Down Royal very seriously as it's a front-runners track," he said.
"It all depends on the ground really, hopefully the ground will be nice. He'd definitely be going there as one of the main contenders.
"We don't have that many options really. There's the Charlie Hall or the Betfair at Haydock. That would mean taking on Long Run and Kauto Star, though.
"I grew up just eight miles from Down Royal so I've followed the race and there's never many runners. Kauto has won it twice
in the last three years. He beat Sizing Europe in it last year and he's a two-miler.
"It's good prize money and they offer a good package to go over so we'll be looking at it very seriously.
"Dougie Costello was over this morning riding him and he was very happy with him."
