09 February 2023 , 13:00
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France’s shock winner of the Cleeve Hurdle, Gold Tweet, is to be supplemented for the Paddy Power Stayers’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival.
His trainer Gabriel Leenders has confirmed that owners Karwin Stud have “no problem” with paying the £14,7878 fee it will cost to add their horse to the field for the £325,000 contest.
Gold Tweet is 8-1 with William Hill for the three mile race after he became France’s first graded race winner at Cheltenham in 18 years on Festival Trials Day.
Sent off an unfancied 14-1, he travelled strongly into contention in the hands of Johnny Charron before scooting clear to beat Dashel Drasher and Paisley Park, who was seeking his fourth win in the race.
Leenders said: “We have no problem supplementing him for the Stayers’ Hurdle, the race on the Thursday.
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“I’m very excited and it is a dream for me and all my team. It’s a better level race and the Irish horses are a different quality I think.
“We will come like last time, relaxed and we will see. If he has a good chance then we are happy, but we are relaxed. We won last time but now the race is better.”
After spending time working for David Pipe in England, Leenders started training in 2014 with five horses having called time on his riding career due to inevitable weight issues as he was France’s tallest jockey.
He now trains a string of 100 and is among France’s top five jumps trainers.