Joseph O’Brien has high hopes for Talk The Talk as he prepares to take his chance at the Cheltenham Festival.

The five-year-old, who is owned by Simon Munir and Isaac Souede, has run four times over hurdles this season and won each time – bar a blip in the Future Champions Novice Hurdle at Leopardstown after Christmas.

A fall there put paid to his chances, but he was back with vengeance at the Dublin Racing Festival to take the Tattersalls Ireland Novice Hurdle by a short head.

The chesnut holds entries for the Sky Bet-sponsored Supreme and the Turners Novices’ Hurdles at the Festival, with O’Brien inclined towards the former option, run over two miles and half a furlong, at this stage.

“He’s really exciting. He’s done nothing wrong this year, he’s unlucky not to be four from four and he goes to Cheltenham as a real obvious contender and one of the top novices around at the moment,” the trainer said.

“I think it would be fair to say we’re leaning towards the Supreme and that’s the race I’ve had in mind, it’s probably the right race for his progression and for him at this stage.

“I think it might be fair to say that the Turners might end up a little bit softer on paper, but we’re paid to put him in the right spot and we think that’s probably the Supreme. The final call will be made late, but I’d say that’s the best spot for him.”

Reflecting on Talk The Talk’s victory at the Dublin Racing Festival, O’Brien said: “I suppose at the DRF he probably shouldn’t have been able to win from where he did off a really slow pace, running down two really good horses.”

O’Brien is confident Talk The Talk will have no issue with a longer trip and it may be the case that he makes the step up at the Festival, but he feels the fast pace of the Supreme may be more likely to play into his hands.

“We’ll probably take our time (at Cheltenham). He’s a horse that, at this stage of his life, that’s the right way to ride him,” he said.

“I’ve got no problem with him going further. I actually probably see him as a stayer in the long-term, but I think we always keep our options open and (qhile) we could have a change of heart late on I think the Supreme is the race we have in mind for him.

“He has kind of an aggressive nature and we feel that the tempo of the Supreme would suit him better. I know he’s won off a very slow pace at Leopardstown the last day, but it’s fair to say that I was surprised that he was able to do that and I think the tempo of a Supreme, generally speaking might be run at a faster pace, would probably be more suitable for him.”

Home By The Lee holds an entry for the Stayers’ Hurdle at the Festival, a race he has contested for the last four seasons with his third-placed run in 2024 the best of his efforts.

The 11-year-old was last seen winning the Galmoy Hurdle at Cork in January and is due to line up for a fifth shot at the Stayers’ race in March.

“It was a good win the last time and gave weight to the horse that won at the weekend (Staffordshire Knot, subsequent Boyne Hurdle winner).

“On paper it was as good as he’s ever been. Whether he can win the Stayers’ Hurdle, that might a stretch, but there’s no reason why he couldn’t run well again.

“He’s a great horse, he’s been a great horse for the owners and the yard and he can run his race again hopefully.”

Zeus Power, winner of a Navan novice last time out, is most likely due to contest the Turners, with O’Brien also assembling a team for the Fred Winter.

“He probably will run in one of the novice hurdles, probably the Turners is more likely,” he said of Zeus Power.

“We might run in Ireland this weekend and then decide, but it would be the plan for him to go in one of the novices I’d imagine. He’d be more of an each way chance but he’s a progressive horse.

Regarding the Fred Winter, O’Brien added: “We’ll probably have three in it. Glen To Glen – he won in Cork. Then we have Dignam – he won in the summer – and then we’ll have a horse called Kizlyar who hasn’t won yet.

“Probably the three of them will run. It looks a good race and it’s hard to win. You need luck in running and the three of them are experienced horses who have plenty on them on the Flat which is usually a help in that kind of race. They’ll all have an each-way chance.”

O’Brien has two smart and well-established chasers in Solness and Banbridge, the former of which beat Marine Nationale at Leopardstown over Christmas and the latter finishing second by a nose to The Jukebox Man when defending his King George crown at Kempton.

Between them they hold a host of Grade One entries at the Festival, but O’Brien has an eye on the Grand National meeting at Aintree for the pair and they may be more likely to turn up there.

Of Solness he said: “He’s come out of it (the Dublin Racing Festival) well. I guess we could wait for Aintree and go slightly up in trip. He still has the option of Cheltenham and maybe Barry Connell might run scared of us! I’m only joking, but we’ll see how he is and see what the ground’s like. Then we’ll see if he goes to Cheltenham or wait for Aintree.

“He likes to dominate his races, but it’s hard to do that at Cheltenham and I don’t think Majborough is going to let us do that any time soon so we might look to avoid him.

“You’d have to say that Marine Nationale has been regularly good at Cheltenham, hasn’t he?And we’ve been generally pretty good at Leopardstown, so it’s horses for courses.”

Of Banbridge, O’Brien added: “As well as the Gold Cup and the Ryanair he’s in at Aintree too. We’ve discussed it with Ronnie (Bartlett, owner) and he’ll be left in all the races. It would be fair to say he’ll probably end up at Aintree. We will have a good look at the Ryanair and the Gold Cup, but I’d say the ground would need to be particularly dry for him to run there.

“The King George was a great race, wasn’t it? One of the best King Georges I can remember in a good while. It was great to be competing in it. You get beaten in a head bob but that’s racing. He turned up and ran right to his best, if not maybe even a clear best, to be honest.”