Kerry Lee narrowing down Nemean Lion options

Kerry Lee’s reliable campaigner Nemean Lion could be aimed at extended trips after a profitable season so far.

The eight-year-old was a Grade Two winner when landing the Kingwell Hurdle last term and then went on to contest both the Champion Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival and the Aintree Hurdle at the Grand National meeting.

He returned this season in handicap company at Sandown to come home second under top-weight, after which he was giving weight all round again when winning a Hereford handicap over a trip just shy of two and a half miles before Christmas.

He was subsequently entered in the Weatherbys Cheltenham Festival Betting Guide Hurdle at Windsor during the Winter Million meeting, a competitive two-mile-four-furlong event worth over £50,000 to the winner.

There he retained his form to come home an admirable half-length winner under usual rider Richard Patrick, proving once again his capabilities over a longer distance.

With that in mind he is pencilled in for Fontwell’s National Spirit Hurdle over a similar trip, with Haydock’s Rendlesham Hurdle over three miles and half a furlong also under consideration.

“He’s in really good form, he’s come out of Windsor very well and we’re making his spring plans as we speak,” said Lee.

“It was lovely to see him run such a solid race, when we saw the race published it was a standout for me and our season’s target.

“Going forward, we’re going to play it by ear a little bit in terms of the weather. The Kingwell, which he won last year, has always been on our radar but it looks quite a hot race and the weather is absolutely mental at the moment.

“He obviously gets significantly further now, when we were racing last season we were pretty much sticking to two miles, though he did run very well in the Lanzarote.

“We’re certainly broadening our horizons in terms of trip, he’s got the National Spirit at Fontwell on the cards and there’s also the Rendlesham depending on how the ground looks.

“He seems so versatile and we may as well play to his strengths. I personally don’t think he goes up a hill so I’m keen to avoid Cheltenham. I’ve already scratched him from the Champion Hurdle and I intend to scratch him from the Stayers’, too – I’d be looking towards Aintree if we were going to run him in a Grade One.”