Cheltenham Festival News: Presentandcounting could be only Donald McCain Cheltenham runner
Donald McCain has high hopes for Bareback Jack
Donald McCain is going for the jumps trainers' title but looks to be only saddling one runner at the Cheltenham Festival 2022 in Presentandcounting.
Donald McCain is having an outstanding season but sadly that won't translate to a raft of runners at the Cheltenham Festival.
McCain made just a handful of entries for the showpiece meeting in the Cotswolds, which gets under way in less than a fortnight's time, but his team could focus on just one.
The eight-year-old Presentandcounting is the horse in question, having won five times over fences between May and September of last year, but has been off the track since finishing third at Chepstow in October.
Hugely consistent, the Presenting gelding has not been out of the first three in his career.
"We'll have one runner at Cheltenham, I think - Presentandcounting in the Plate (Handicap Chase)," McCain said.
"His owner John Turner is a big supporter of Cheltenham and the horse has had his winter break and is ready to crack on with again."
McCain feels he could have had more runners had the now defunct novice handicap chase not be taken on of the Festival line-up/
L'Antartique (2007), Hunt Ball (2012), A Plus Tard (2019) and Imperial Aura (2020) are among the notable previous winners of a race that was replaced by the Mares' Chase at last year's Festival.
"If the novice handicap chase was still there I could have had about four runners," McCain added.
"They got rid of that race, which is a shame because it produced a lot of a good horses."
Richmond Lake, a general 16/1 chance for the Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys' Hurdle looks McCains best chance on paper but appears unlkely to go off at Prestbury Park.
However, the six-year-old - who was last seen finishing second to leading Supreme Novices' Hurdle contender Jonbon at Haydock - is declared for Saturday's bet365 Premier Novices' Hurdle at Kelso.
