REALT DUBH could take the first step towards trying to break into the two mile chase establishment in a Grade Three event at Naas on Saturday.
Noel Meade’s multiple Grade One-winning novice is one of just eight entries left in the Grade Three Ben Dunne Gyms Poplar Square Chase run over two miles.
Realt Dubh hasn’t been seen since chasing home Captain Chris at the Punchestown festival but is a general 16-1 shot in ante-post betting for March’s Queen Mother Champion Chase at Cheltenham.
The Irish-trained stars, Sizing Europe and Big Zeb, the last two winner of the Queen Mother, currently top the betting for the two-mile crown.
Also left in the Poplar Chase is the festival winner Noble Prince who returned to action on the flat at the Curragh earlier this month as well as Sizing Europe’s stable companion, Loosen My Load.
Another star name set to line up at Naas is the leading mare Our Girl Salley who ran up five victories in a row before being ruled out of the Cheltenham festival last March due to a setback.
The Prunella Dobbs-trained horse has been left in a two-and-a -half mile conditions hurdle at the Co Kildare track.
