Connections of Celestial Gold will take their time before formulating a definite plan for the Hennessy Cognac Gold Cup winner. The six-year-old took the Paddy Power Gold Cup at Cheltenham two weeks ago before going on to Newbury yesterday to become the first horse to complete the big-race double since 1980.
He beat Ollie Magern by a length and a half after Timmy Murphy had ridden a supremely confident race on the Martin Pipe-trained runner.
Celestial Gold holds an entry in the bonusprint.com Gold Cup back at PrestburyPark in two weeks but owner David Johnson told At The Races: “I know Martin mentioned Cheltenham but hopefully Our Vic will be back for that. He's obviously an improving horse, he's only six years old and I think we've got to give him the respect he deserves and give him a bit of time, so I don't think we'll rush to run him again before Christmas.
"He's not in the King George and we had no intention of running him in the race. I guess it's fair to say he's surprised us a little bit."
Johnson also has high hopes for Marcel, who notched up his seventh win on the bounce in the cantorodds.com Novices' Hurdle at the Berkshire track. The four-year-old beat Pole Star by six lengths after taking a Grade Two hurdle at Cheltenham on his previous start.
Pipe indicated yesterday that Marcel may be sent chasing at some point this season and Johnson admits options are open for the Bateau Rouge gelding.
He added: "He's gone on improving and gone on improving. I think he looks a real good prospect. You can't really knock him, he won a Grade Two race and then won yesterday relatively easily as he should have done.
"You don't get a bad horse winning seven and Timmy has schooled him so we've got some options on that. I want people to hold fire yet, though, as I'm not sure if he'll go for the Arkle or for one of the hurdles at Cheltenham. He's a really exciting prospect."
Following a hugely successful couple of weeks for Johnson, Ladbrokes quote Pipe's principal owner at 1-3 from 5-6 to retain his owner's title, with JP McManus out to 9-4.
