Snowden considering Cleeve Hurdle option for Ga Law

Jamie Snowden believes Ga Law had sound excuses for a rare bad run in Saturday’s December Gold Cup at Cheltenham.

Having gone close in the Paddy Power Gold Cup in November, Snowden felt his latest contest came a bit too soon after a very hard race, and on ground softer than he ideally likes.

The trainer is now weighing up options for his eight-year-old, that could include going back over hurdles.

“It was a culmination of three things. He had a hard race in the Paddy Power and it probably came a little bit too soon, he was carrying more weight – having finished second in his last three runs, he keeps going up the weights – and also the ground was softer than he likes,” said Snowden.

“We could look at the race he won last year back at Cheltenham on Trials Day but the handicapper isn’t going to drop us that much, maybe a pound or two.

“The two horses who dominated on Saturday (Gemirande and Madara) are weighted much lower than us, so if they run, we’d still be giving them lumps of weight.

“We are where we are. We’re either stepping up into graded company or giving lumps of weight away in a handicap.

“We will contemplate going up into graded company, while the other option is going back over hurdles for the Cleeve on Trials Day.

“The only two times we’ve run him over hurdles, it has been on soft ground, which he doesn’t enjoy, so other than going up in grade, the other option is the Cleeve.”