Gavin Cromwell is leaning towards the Stayers' Hurdle with two-time former champion Flooring Porter.
The nine-year-old won the contest in both 2021 and 2022 before finishing fourth behind Sire Du Berlais last season.
He began his steeple chasing career this term, beating Broadway Boy on debut at Cheltenham and then finishing third in both the Florida Pearl and the Neville Hotels Novice Chase.
It has not been guaranteed that he will stick with the discipline at the Cheltenham Festival, however, and with the withdrawal of Constitution Hill from the Champion Hurdle picture there has been a ripple effect on other races.
Gordon Elliott's Irish Point now looks likely to start in the Champion Hurdle and in his absence Cromwell is minded to bid for another Stayers' Hurdle with Flooring Porter.
Speaking on a stable tour for Attheraces.com, the trainer said: "We are leaning towards the Stayers' Hurdle. That isn't 100% confirmed, but with Irish Point looking likely to go for the Champion Hurdle, that might just seal it.
"We had a really tough preparation for Cheltenham with him last year as he missed a month after Christmas, but he still ran really well. We've had a much better preparation with him this year.
"It's a very competitive race, but if he brought his best form to the table, he'd be entitled to be in the mix with the best of them."
Perceval Legallois is the second favourite for the Kim Muir at present. but will not line up for the race as Cromwell feels the mark of 144 he has been allocated is prohibitive.
He said: "We've decided not to run him at the Cheltenham Festival. The British handicapper was very tough on him, so we'll stay at home with him."
My Mate Mozzie (above) holds entries for both the Grand Annual and the Arkle and is most probably going to run in the latter race, especially considering Marine Nationale has been ruled out of the contest.
"He's more than likely going to run in the Arkle," said Cromwell.
"He's going to have to run a career-best to win it, but he shaped really well right on the tail of the current favourite Found A Fifty at Leopardstown's Christmas meeting and that form has worked out well since.
"Maybe the winner was idling, but we got further back than was planned and finished off very well, so we have reasons to rate him better than the bare form too.
"Marine Nationale coming out can only help him too. The better the ground, the better his chance."
Meanwhile the Ryanair Chase remains "very much the plan" for ante-post favourite Banbridge, despite concerns about ground conditions ahead of next week's Cheltenham Festival.
Joseph O'Brien's charge was a non-runner in the Turners Novices' Chase at the showpiece meeting last year due to the rain-softened ground and the official going at Prestbury Park on Tuesday morning was soft, heavy in places.
Banbridge made an impressive start to his campaign when accounting for subsequent Ascot Chase winner Pic D'Orhy in the Grade Two Silviniaco Conti Chase at Kempton and he has since been saved for the Festival, with a final decision on his participation unlikely to be made until the morning of the race.
"There's still a long time to go between now and then, there's lots of racing to happen and lots of weather forecasts that will come and go," said O'Brien.
"As we've said all along, we'll look forward to the race and hopefully we'll walk the track on the morning of the race and hopefully he can run.
"Very much the plan is to run. He's prepared well for Cheltenham so far."
Banbridge is set to lead a small but select team of "six or seven" runners for O'Brien across the biggest four days of the season in the Cotswolds.
He added: "Hopefully we'll have something running most of the days, some of them would like the ground a bit softer and some of them would like it a bit quicker.
"At the moment, it looks as if it's going to favour the horses that prefer a bit of juice, but let's see what happens - it can dry out fast and it can get softer quickly too. We'll keep an eye on things over the next week."
Lark In The Mornin heads the betting for the Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle, but O'Brien revealed his participation is "up in the air".
Considering some of his other running plans, he said: "Nurburgring is an intended runner in the Triumph Hurdle, he is still entered in the Boodles but he's going to run in the Triumph.
"Home By The Lee is in the Stayers' Hurdle, we'll have Solness in the Grand Annual and Busselton in the Ultima Handicap Chase, so there's a few runners there."
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