Following last month's impressive performance in landing the Navan Handicap Hurdle, connections of HMS Seahorse are keen to showcase the five-year-old's capabilities in the Coral Cup at the Cheltenham Festival in March.
The son of Galileo had already indicated his potential last season, when following up a fourth-placed finish in the Fred Winter at the 2022 Cheltenham Festival by finishing third behind Vauban in the Champion Four Year Old Hurdle at Punchestown in April.
After finishing down the field in the Irish Cesarewitch in September, trainer Paul Nolan gave HMS Seahorse a break, since when last month's reappearance over hurdles saw him relish the step up to two and a half miles, scoring with ease in soft ground – his first start since a gelding operation.
"He was good at Navan," said Nolan. "He looked like he stayed well and I think he's a horse who is in no way ground dependent.
"He seems to be able to handle it every way and I'm hoping the improvement has come from him being gelded.
"There are times when it doesn't make any difference at all, but this fella definitely seems to have improved for it."
HMS Seahorse holds an entry in Sunday's Pertemps Network Handicap Hurdle at Exeter, although his Enniscorthy handler says he is unlikely to travel.
"He's got 4lb more with the English handicapper, but it's more than likely we won't go to Exeter," added Nolan. "It has just given us more of an idea of where we stand. It is useful to know.
"I'd say more than likely we will go to the Coral Cup. It is just stepping up an extra furlong and we found out more about him last time.
"He won a mile-and-a-half handicap on summer soft ground at the Curragh, but sometimes it doesn't work out that way – you can look like a stayer on the Flat, but there are times you might not stay two and a half or three miles over hurdles, but with him stepping him up in trip is definitely an asset."
