Punchestown Festival News: Paul Nicholls' Clan Des Obeaux aiming to put on a show

Paul Nicholls' ten-year-old took the three miles, one furlong race on Merseyside and could go at decent odds again in the Ladbrokes Punchestown Gold Cup on Wednesday, April 27.

Don of Ditcheat Nicholls loves his trips to Punchestown and says "Clan" is in good order.

"It's about running the right horses in the right races. We thought that the Ladbrokes Gold Cup would suit Clan and that's why we're coming back again this year. It's going to be a tough old race with Allaho and he had a harder race at Aintree than last year, but it was a career best in many ways.

Nicholls added: "It's a waste of time running him around Cheltenham. He hates it, as Silviniaco Conti did, but you've got to run them in the right races, as we did bringing two horses to Punchestown last year and they both won."

Meanwhile, two-times Ryanair Chase victor Allaho of Willie Mullins returns to three miles after mainly being campaigned over two miles and change. Mullins' assistant son Patrick isn't fazed though.

"His options are limited. We didn't go to Aintree as he put in a huge performance at Cheltenham and we thought asking him to come back that quick would be tough.

"It's not like he doesn't stay three miles, he is just probably at his optimum over two and a half miles, but he is still a very good horse over three miles.