Connections of classy French import Ashkazar are looking forward to the 2011 Cheltenham Festival as they sway towards running the seven-year-old in the Ladbrokes World Hurdle.

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Ashkazar leaped into Cheltenham contention with an impressive victory at HQ on New Year’s Day and his trainer David Pipe and owner David Johnson have been left with a number of options ahead of the world’s most prestigious race meeting.

Johnson admitted that he thought Ashkazar was vastly overpriced when he won and explained: "He went off at 20-1 and I don't have many go off at that price that I've fancied, but we thought we'd try stepping up in trip so David entered him over three miles.

"Timmy (Murphy) gave him a great ride, I thought the rest went off too fast and fell into our hands. It showed he stays three miles and opens a few more options for us now.

"Maybe the Pertemps Final, or even the World Hurdle as something has to be placed behind Big Buck's.

"If we go for the Pertemps we're going to have 12st on our backs and you'd have a pretty well-handicapped horse in the race somewhere, so the Pertemps probably wouldn't be on the agenda.

"In the World Hurdle, you're probably all running for second place and I hope Andy Stewart wins it for the third time. There's still places though and Martin (Pipe) told me once never to be scared of one horse," he continued.