Logician chasing Festival success

Australian chaser Logician will add exotic flavour to this year's Cheltenham Festival and could even contest the showpiece event, the £290,000 Tote-sponsored Gold Cup, caretaker handler Andrew Balding revealed today.

The ten-year-old is trained by Tony Noonan and included the prestigious A.V. Hiskens Chase among his three victories last year. That same race was won in 1969 and 1970 by gargantuan chaser, Crisp, whose courageous second to the great Red Rum in the 1973 Grand National is etched in the memory.

Logician travelled to the US last year to contest the Breeders' Cup Chase, but was withdrawn because the ground was too firm. Instead of returning to Australia to race in similarly fast conditions, Noonan billeted the horse at Balding's Kingsclere base to embark upon a British campaign.

Under UK rules, Logician is officially still a novice and could appear in a two-mile chase of that grade at Kempton on Saturday week.

Although his charge is yet to race over further than two-and-a-half miles and will be entered in other Festival events, Noonan was keen to keep open the option of the 3m2f Gold Cup.

Logician was one of 38 entries announced today for the richest-ever renewal of chasing's blue riband event on 15 March. A record 13 Irish-trained horses hold Gold Cup engagements this year.