GLOBAL Citizen sidesteps Cheltenham this week and instead will be pointed at Aintree and the Grade 1 Top Novices’ Hurdle. This is follows his emphatic recent success in the Grade 2 Dovecote Novices’ Hurdle at Kempton, a victory that so impressed the English handicapper that the gelding was raised a whopping 19lbs.

This was not the first time that Global Citizen was making a name for himself. The son of Alkaadhem (Green Desert) really caught the eye when he was a four-length winner of a five-year-old maiden point-to-point at Bellurgan Park last April. He then was sent by his handler, William Murphy of Ballycurragh Stud where his sire stands, to the Tattersalls Ireland Cheltenham Sale that same month – and he topped proceedings. At the time the gelding was owned by his breeder Martin Byrne.