Leading trainer David Pipe is up in the air with his plans for Grade One winning hurdler Adagio, whether to run him once more before heading back to Cheltenham for the festival.
The youngster made his debut in November at Warwick when winning a decent event and then two starts ago stepped over two miles at Cheltenham and finished a good second behind the Gordon Elliott trained Duffle Coat.
He used that form next time out to drop back in class and easily land the Triumph Trial Juvenile Hurdle over the same course and distance.
The gelding took the race with ease, travelling well throughout the race and Pipe then gave him his chance at the top level when sending him to Chepstow last time out.
Cracking performance! Adagio wins the Grade 1 Coral Finale Juvenile Hurdle for @tommyscu and @DavidPipeRacing at @Chepstow_Racing pic.twitter.com/td2jF8iQWX
— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) January 9, 2021
Stepping up against Nassalam, Adagio was pitched into the Grade One Finale Juvenile Hurdle and was a superb winner, staying on in the final stages to dominate the field.
With Grade One winning form, Pipe is now unsure on giving him one more outing or sending him straight to the Cheltenham festival where he will take on the best of the Irish.
(Credit ATR) “It’s possible he’ll have one more run before the Festival. We just felt the ground would be too wet for him on Saturday and decided to give it a miss,” said Pipe.
“There’s the Triumph Hurdle Trial at Musselburgh (next weekend), and there’s also a race at Exeter he could run in. They are the only two options for him really – otherwise, we could just give him a racecourse gallop and go straight to Cheltenham in March.”