Northern Ireland trainer Noel Kelly has plenty to look forward to with cheap buy Decor Irlandais who is on target for a run at the 2020 Cheltenham Festival ‘all being well’.

Draperstown based handler Kelly asserted “He has a few gears and will possibly go for the Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle. He’s maybe not good enough to win at festival but he deserves a chance to take on Envoi Allen and if he could finish in the first four or five for a small yard that would be extremely good result”.

The seven-year-old won four point-to-points in the North last season, this current term he has been running well in novice company for his County Derry based yard to recommend he is not without a chance of getting involved at Cheltenham this March.

During the summer months he won twice at Cartmel racecourse, and he followed up them runs with a very eye-catching win at Catterick when undoubtedly catching the eye winning impressively under a double penalty before Christmas, with jockey Noel McParlan sitting motionless in the saddle, practically showboating to an extent. Most recently Decor Irlandais ran at Warwick racecourse, having to settle for second place on that occasion was losing nothing in defeat that was still a career best performance; the winner Mossy Fen is now officially rated 142 by the handicapper; that form is solid enough going forward.

Kelly added; “We’ll give him a break now and then go to Cheltenham. He’ll just go on a walker for ten days and out in a field of grass to freshen him up. We’ll possibly not run him before Cheltenham and just gallop him twice at some of the good tracks”.

Northern Ireland has a horse capable of running a bold show at the upcoming Cheltenham Festival.