Resplendent Grey ready to make Carlisle return

Resplendent Grey is likely to head to Carlisle for his seasonal bow ahead of a planned Coral Gold Cup run at Newbury.

Olly Murphy’s charge won the bet365 Gold Cup on the final day of last season and the trainer is open minded as to whether he will be able to progress out of handicaps or if he is going to be one for the Grand National further down the line.

“He’ll go for the Colin Parker as a prep run before the Coral Gold Cup,” said Murphy.

“He’s in very good form and actually galloped really well this week. We’re looking forward to going to Carlisle with him to hopefully open up his lungs before he goes to Newbury and he’s done everything well so far and we can’t wait to get him started.

“His run at Newbury will tell us more and if he’s going to be a graded chaser or whether he will stay down the handicap route.

“He looks to have a lovely profile for a National and I would have to speak to the owners and see what they would like to do, but hopefully he will keep progressing as a second-season novice and we’re really excited for him this year.”

Stablemate Strong Leader, second in the Liverpool Hurdle when last seen, is another who will be heading north for his first run.

“I thought if they had gone a stronger gallop at Aintree he would have won, but it wasn’t to be and he still ran a cracker,” said Murphy.

“He’ll go to Wetherby for the West Yorkshire Hurdle and is in very good form.

“After Wetherby he’ll probably go to Newbury and we might even look at a trip to Ireland over Christmas.

“We’re going to stay to flat, left-handed tracks if we can as ultimately that’s what suits him best and hopefully there are more big races to come from him.”