Better Days Ahead will get the chance to shine in Sunday’s William Hill Best Odds Guaranteed Novice Chase at Navan after bypassing a Leopardstown run last week.
The seven-year-old was entered for the Ladbrokes Novice Chase at the Dublin Racing Festival, but trainer Gordon Elliott felt the combination of a two-mile-five-furlong trip combined with what was officially described as yielding ground would not play to the gelding’s strengths.
Better Days Ahead, who was only narrowly beaten at Grade One level at Christmas, will instead try to book his place in the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase at the Cheltenham Festival with victory at Navan.
Elliott said: “I had Better Days Ahead in Leopardstown last weekend and I took him out on the day because they changed the ground over two-five and he’s a real three-miler.
“Probably on the day it rode a little bit easier than they described it and I was kind of a little bit sorry I didn’t run him.
“He obviously won the Martin Pipe last year, that’s a race that seems to throw up good horses and I think the Brown Advisory will really suit him in Cheltenham.”
Elliott is well represented with Three Card Brag and Stellar Story also taking part in a race previously known as the Ten Up Novice Chase.
Stellar Story is another Festival winner who is now campaigning over fences, winning the Grade Two Florida Pearl on his first start before disappointing when last of four in the same race Better Days Ahead contested last time.
The trainer added: “Stellar Story will probably go for that (Brown Advisory) as well, but I wouldn’t worry what the placings are on Sunday because with Stellar Story it’s all about getting a clear round into him and a bit of confidence.
“He operated at Cheltenham last year, he’s an Albert Bartlett winner and the the Brown Advisory will suit him.”
Elliott is hoping his decision to bypass the Dublin Racing Festival with his better horses will pay dividends at the spring festivals now.
He added: “We took the decision not to run a lot of our big guns in Dublin. I think we only had one horse under 6-1 or 7-1 at the whole meeting, so that shows what we ran at it.
“When you come out of the two days with no winner you think maybe we should have ran a few better ones, but that was the decision we made. We decided we wanted to freshen a few up and maybe have them for Fairyhouse, Punchestown and Aintree.”
Willie Mullins’ Chosen Witness and the Vincent Halley-trained Arctic Skua also line up.