Dunguib 'on track' to return in the new year

Dunguib: Naas and Gowran Park among the options for Philip Fenton

  PICTURE: Caroline Norris  Dunguib 'on track' as Fenton maps out plans
 By Jessica Lamb 10:18AM 17 DEC 2010 CHAMPION HURDLE hopeful Dunguib is on course to return to the racecourse in the new year.

RELATED LINKS Champion Hurdlebetting Free bets  Possible starting points include the 2m3f Limestone Lad Hurdle at Naas on January 15 and the 2m Red Mills Trial Hurdle at Gowran Park a month later. The Grade 1 BHP Insurance Irish Champion Hurdle at Leopardstown on January 23 has also been discussed, but trainer Philip Fenton warns it would be “ambitious for a first run of the season”.

Fenton said: “He’s grand and I’m happy with him so far. The weather would have held him up anyway as, while we have been able to keep them all ticking over, I would have liked to have done a little bit more with him if he was to be running sooner.

“He’s on track, but where he runs will depend on how ready he is when these races come up. We’ll step up his work in the next few weeks."

Dunguib, a 20-1 shot for the Stanjames.com Champion Hurdle with the sponsor, won the 2009 Weatherbys Champion Bumper and began his hurdling career in October last year, winning his first four outings before contesting the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival.

In finishing third behind Menorah in the Supreme, Dunguib suffered defeat for the first time over hurdles. He was then beaten again on his final start last season when sixth to Hurricane Fly in the Rabobank Champion Hurdle at Punchestown.

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