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Laura Morgan is pondering both Kelso and Haydock options as her unbeaten hurdler Bold Endeavour prepares to step up in grade.
The gelding was a point-to-point winner at Necarne as a four-year-old and then joined Laura Morgan's Leicestershire yard, making his debut for the stable in a Sedgefield bumper last May where he duly obliged by 10 lengths.
A run in a maiden hurdle the following November resulted in a five-and-a-half-length victory at the same track, after which the six-year-old headed to Wetherby and caught the eye with an impressive 12-length success in a novice event in January.
The Grade Two Premier Kelso Hurdle on March 5 was under consideration for the horse's next outing, but the dry ground could see him rerouted for the Prestige Novices' Hurdle, also a Grade Two, run over three miles at Haydock on February 19.
"My plan was to go to Kelso for the Premier Hurdle but with the ground drying out, I'm not quite so sure that I should make that Plan A, I should maybe go for Plan B now," she said.
"He will maybe go to Haydock on the 19th for the three-mile novice there. I'm in two minds as I don't really think we've had many years where the ground has stayed like this.
"It's fairly dry everywhere so it is ground dependent, we want to try him over three (miles) because I think that's where he wants to be.
"I think the track will really suit him and hopefully the ground will stay nice, the thing with Haydock is that it can be a lot softer there."
Morgan is hopeful that a step up to three miles will bring about even more improvement from Bold Endeavour and has an eye on Aintree in the spring after his next run.
"His performance at Wetherby definitely looked like he wanted every yard I thought. We may go to Haydock and possibly then Aintree after that – I wouldn't be thinking about Cheltenham this year," she said.
"For his next run we'll take the hood off as well, he looked like he didn't need it at Wetherby."
Morgan trains a relatively small string near Melton Mowbray and could see her yard put on the map thanks to the exploits of Bold Endeavour and his stablemate Socialist Agenda.
"It is very exciting, we've not had anything of this potential I don't think," she said.
"We have Socialist Agenda, he's won three bumpers and a novice hurdle and he looks quite nice. He has form in a nice race at Cheltenham on his second start over hurdles.
"Bold Endeavour looks the one, doesn't he? It's really good for the whole team, we're only small and have got about 38 in full work, so it is really exciting."
