Next month's Morgiana Hurdle at Punchestown is the likely seasonal starting point for the unbeaten Faugheen.
A brilliant all-the-way winner of the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham in March, the Willie Mullins-trained seven-year-old stretched his unbeaten record to ten in the Punchestown Festival equivalent in May.
Owner Rich Ricci expects his star hurdler to return in a race won by legendary former stable companion Hurricane Fly for the last three years, before defending his Christmas Hurdle crown at Kempton on St Stephen’s Day.
"Faugheen is great," said Ricci.
"People say he is an ugly horse but he is beautiful to me.
"I imagine that he will start off in the Morgiana Hurdle in the middle of November, all being well, then he will run in the Christmas Hurdle at Kempton.
"He has never run between Christmas and Cheltenham before, but those are his first two targets."
