Monday 23 January 2017 19:45, UK
Harry Fry has urged Cheltenham Festival punters to hang fire with antepost bets on impressive Haydock winner Neon Wolf.
Not only does the heavily-supported Sky Bet Supreme Trial Rossington Main Novices' Hurdle scorer have two options at the big meeting in March, Fry has reiterated that the horse may not even be aimed towards Cheltenham at all unless there is some ease in the ground.
However, the trainer, who saddled Rock On Ruby to win the Champion Hurdle in 2012 and is responsible for this year's SunBets Stayers' Hurdle favourite Unowhatimeanharry, cannot hide his excitement over what Neon Wolf could be capable of in the future.
Fry told At The Races: "He's definitely one of the most exciting (I'm trained so far), he's an absolute monster in the making really.
"You can't get away from the fact that he is hugely exciting and we've made no secret that we do like him. But to go out and put up a performance like that on Saturday, over a sharp two miles for a horse that's going to be a three-mile chaser, is like Noel (Fehily) said something that he just shouldn't be doing.
"From the home turn to the line it was hugely exciting and it had us dancing around the kitchen at home.
"We hoped he could put up a good performance but as for the betting, I'm not interested in that side of things - it's not what I'm in it for - but for him to go off that short was a huge gamble. Thankfully he delivered on the day."
As for the immediate future, Fry is adamant that the son of Vinnie Roe won't be risked if the going is too quick for the horse, whose two wins over obstacles this season have come on good to soft ground at Exeter and soft last weekend.
Fry said: "Noel hinted it at the weekend but Cheltenham won't be the be-all and end-all for him this season. Having said that, after a performance like that at Haydock, how can we not be considering it? Especially if it happened to come up soft at the Festival.
"We're looking at all the options open to him and by that obviously I mean the Sky Bet Supreme, and obviously the Neptune could be a bit more realistic if we did turn up at the Festival. It's not necessarily all about what he does over hurdles this season and if the ground wasn't going to be on the slow side then we'd probably look to skip it and maybe look to going to Punchestown.
"His owners' and their family are keen on the Punchestown Festival and have had success out there with Ffletchers Flyer.
"We're just going to weigh up the options and look at the ground nearer the time before committing him to anything.
"We're looking at his chasing campaign next season really as he's a big tank of a horse and that's why we wouldn't want to go to Cheltenham this year if the ground wasn't on the slow side."
Neon Wolf can be backed in the race sponsors' non-runner no-bet market at 10/1 for the Sky Bet Supreme Novices.
