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Cheltenham Festival news: David Pipe keen on Kings Palace RSA chance

Kings Palace: Impressive again at Cheltenham
Image: Kings Palace: Added to his tally in a two-runner affair at the weekend

Kings Palace returned "a bit stiff" after his win at Newbury on Saturday, but trainer David Pipe would not swap him for anything else in the RSA Chase field.

He only faced one rival and made blunders at the same open ditch on both circuits, but still won with his head in his chest to take his total to three wins in as many starts over fences.

Pipe reports his charge be on course for the Festival, although he will be taken out of the Betfred Cheltenham Gold Cup leaving the RSA Chase as his target.

"We had been hoping to gain a bit of experience away from Cheltenham and this had looked the ideal race for him, so it was disappointing when the field cut up so badly as it would have been great if one could have given him a lead," he told www.davidpipe.com.

"It wasn't entirely straightforward as he made a couple of hair-raising errors at the ditch in the straight, although his jumping at the plain fences was spectacular.

"He is a bit stiff after his race, but is still firmly on target for Cheltenham although he will be scratched from the Gold Cup, leaving the RSA Chase as his Festival objective.

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"He is hugely exciting and I wouldn't swap him for anything else at this stage."

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