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James Owen's stable star Burdett Road remains on course to take on Sir Gino once more in the JCB Triumph Hurdle at Cheltenham in March.
A Royal Ascot winner on the flat for Michael Bell, the son of Muhaarar made a seamless transition to the hurdling game with a victory at Huntingdon before going on to score at Cheltenham's November Meeting.
The James Owen-trained four-year-old headed the ante-post market going into Saturday's Grade 2 Triumph Hurdle Trial but is now as big as 12/1 in places after proving no match for Nicky Henderson's French-bred Sir Gino on the day.
While the Hamilton Road-based handler acknowledges his horse has plenty of work to do in order to make up the ten-length deficit from Saturday, he remains happy with his Triumph Hurdle contender and took plenty of positives from the weekend's performance.
Owen said: "We bumped into a very good horse and the positive we can take from it is that we jumped better, and he's come out of it fine,"
"I think drier ground will help us. We've got to improve to bridge that gap, but he'll have an easy week and he'll be trained for the Triumph Hurdle – all systems go, basically."
"We were pleased in quite a few ways on Saturday as he jumped better and settled better, albeit he got keen at the top of the hill when they seemed to slow the race down.
"He was there at the right time to win the race and we were outclassed on the day, but he's been beaten before on the Flat, he's a hardy horse and he would have learnt more again.
The prospect of better ground at Prestbury Park come March should prove favourable for Burdett Road, with James Owen hopeful that can help his horse bridge the gap.
He added: "Drier ground, a bit of spring weather, I'm hoping a few things will help us bridge the gap. There were no excuses on our behalf though, we were beaten by a very good horse.
"I'm happy with my horse and not disappointed. There was a lot of hype and press about him before Saturday, which was great, but the pressure is off me a bit now and hopefully we can get a trouble-free run and get to Cheltenham in good health and hopefully he'll run very well."
