Shropshire's National Hunt hope Peddlers Cross to return
Shropshire's National Hunt horse of the moment Peddlers Cross is set to make his seasonal return to action at the end of this month.
Shropshire's National Hunt horse of the moment Peddlers Cross is set to make his seasonal return to action at the end of this month.
The six-year-old, owned by Tim Leslie, who farms near Telford, is pencilled in for an appearance at the Fighting Fifth Hurdle at Newcastle on Saturday, November 27.
Trained by Donald McCain at Cholmondeley, Peddlers Cross is unbeaten in six starts and completed a famous double at the end of last season.
He won the Neptune Investment Management Novices' Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival before following up by capturing the John Smith's Mersey Novices' Hurdle at the Grand National meeting at Aintree.
"Peddlers Cross is obviously something special and we shall find out at Newcastle what the future holds for him," said McCain's stable jockey Jason Maguire.
Meanwhile, champion National Hunt trainer Paul Nicholls has revealed he would one day like to aim another Shropshire-owned horse - John Hales' Neptune Collonges - at the Grand National.
Neptune Collonges has twice finished in the top four at the Gold Cup but has been out injured since the 2009 Cheltenham Festival.
The Hennessy Gold Cup at Newbury later this month is a possible return, but Nicholls believes the horse has the credentials to be successful in the Aintree marathon at some point in the future.
"He would be an ideal Grand National horse, though I'm not sure whether Aintree would be near the top of John's prioprity list," said Nicholls.