News Hurdling campaign in store for Ptit Zig

Hurdling campaign in store for Ptit Zig

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Ptit Zig is set to stay over hurdles for the remainder of this season following a fair effort in defeat in the Cleeve Hurdle at Cheltenham.

The seven-year-old has a clutch of Grade Two successes over fences to his name but following a couple of blunders on his two most recent chase outings, connections switched back to the smaller obstacles.

While the Paul Nicholls-trained Ptit Zig finished some 12 lengths adrift of effortless winner Thistlecrack, part-owner Barry Fulton thought the experience could well sharpen him up for a possible tilt at next month's World Hurdle.

He said: "I thought he didn't jump as well as perhaps he can, he just lost a little bit of ground at a hurdle or two, probably because he has been racing over fences.

"Paul thought he could jump better, be a little slicker at his hurdles, and better ground would also suit him more.

"We will stick to hurdles this season now and I suppose the World Hurdle would be the place to go.

"There aren't a lot of options with him - he is quite hard to place with his rating.

"There is also Aintree but the gap between Cheltenham is a bit shorter this year, so I would imagine it would be one or the other.

"I haven't spoken to Paul about it yet, so we will see what happens."