Curtis unsure on Couleurs’ course to Cheltenham

Rebecca Curtis is pondering her next move with Haiti Couleurs as she bids to navigate a route to the National Hunt Chase at the Cheltenham Festival.

A dual winner over hurdles last spring, the eight-year-old has made a fine start to his career over fences this season, with a runner-up finish on his debut at Chepstow followed by a couple of bold-jumping victories at Aintree and Cheltenham.

With the National Hunt Chase being run as a 0-145 handicap for the first time this year following a change to the race conditions, Haiti Couleurs appears a major candidate off his current mark of 135 and Curtis does not want to overdo it in the meantime.

“He’s really good, but to be honest we’ve put nothing in concrete with him,” said the Welsh trainer.

“He’s gone up to 135, which puts him on quite a nice mark for the National Hunt Chase now that it’s a handicap and I think we’ve just got to be careful between now and then.

“There’s a novice handicap chase at Doncaster at the end of the month which I’ve looked at, but I’m not sure. I feel he is a horse that’s improving and may end up slightly better than a handicapper, so it’s all a bit up in the air at the moment.”

Haiti Couleurs is the 8-1 favourite for the National Hunt Chase with bet365 and a best-priced 10-1 with Paddy Power and Betfair.