Olly Murphy is looking forward to seeing his potential Stayers' Hurdle candidate Strong Leader return when he makes his reappearance at Newbury on Friday.
The Olly Murphy-trained seven-year-old is one of twelve entries for the Grade 2 Coral Long Distance Hurdle at Newbury on Friday, with Gordon Elliott's recent Wetherby winner Beacon Edge, Fergal O'Brien's Grade 1 hero Crambo and the progressive Cheltenham handicap hurdle scorer Doyen Quest all possible rivals.
"He runs Friday and Newbury," said Olly Murphy on Sky Sports Racing. "He's in very very good form. Obviously, the plan was to go to Wetherby, but the ground was too quick there, he galloped at Newbury the other day and he galloped well."
Victory in the Grade 1 Liverpool Hurdle at Aintree last season will mean Strong Leader carries a 3lb penalty on his seasonal reappearance but with an unexposed profile over three miles, Murphy fully believes his now 150-rated hurdler has what it takes to be right up there with the best in the staying division.
"I'm really looking forward to running him, he's got a little penalty but he's in good form and we're excited about running.
"Off ratings, he's the stable star at the moment. He probably should be unbeaten over three miles; I thought he was very unlucky not to win the Cleeve (Hurdle). He kicked hurdles out of the ground. He's very unexposed over the trip and fingers crossed, he's got a good chance."
Strong Leader is a 12/1 chance behind ante-post favourite Teahupoo (2/1) for the Stayers' Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival with race sponsors Paddy Power and whilst Murphy admits his form may not be quite as good at Prestbury Park, he still expects that to be his main target.
"I think so (that will be his main aim), albeit I don't think his form is quite as strong around Cheltenham as it is elsewhere. We'll cross that bridge when we get there, whether he's a horse who will have a run in the Cleeve Hurdle beforehand just to see how he goes round, I'd imagine so.
"Teahupoo looks the main threat to any kind of three-mile stayer at the moment, but we'll see how we get on Friday and then make a plan."
With Strong Leader gearing up to turn eight, a switch to chasing looks unlikely for the son of Passing Glance as the in-form Olly Murphy continues to eye more valuable prizes over hurdles with his staying star.
"I think the ideal scenario is to probably stay over hurdles. There's a lot of prize money to be won and to compete for over hurdles in the three-mile staying division and it looks like he's at the top of the division in England at the moment."
