ALL roads lead to Listowel next month and Kerry racegoers are keeping their fingers crossed for one of the most exciting visitors in recent years, who will be the star attraction. The 2015 Gold Cup winner Coneygree is a likely runner in the Kerry National on September 13th.

This week connections confirmed the popular chaser firmly on course for next month’s Kerry National.

The seriously talented but fragile 10-year-old performed magnificently to finish a close third in the Punchestown Gold Cup in April, on what was his first appearance since filling the runner-up spot in the Betfair Chase at Haydock last November.

Sara Bradstock, wife of trainer Mark, issued a bullish update on his progress.

“All being well we’re heading to Listowel. They tell me the ground will be soft enough, but I just want to check with a few people that it won’t be patchy,” said Bradstock.

“He feels absolutely wonderful at the moment. I really could not be happier with him. He’s really exciting me. We were very happy with him going into Punchestown, but I think that run gave him was more confidence in his own soundness.

“He’s running around like an idiot again now and touching every piece of wood I can find – right now he feels as good as he did before he won the Gold Cup.”

Rated 172 after his 2015 Cheltenham Gold Cup success, Coneygree would not be the first Gold Cup winner to see action at the Harvest Festival as Pat Healy tells us that L’Escargot and Captain Christy were in action in the 1970s.

The best weight-carrying performance of recent times was by Dorans Pride and Richard Dunwoody who were successful under 12st in 1997.

The 1983 Gold Cup winner Bregawn also has the dictinction of winning in Listowel as, moved to training with Paddy Mullins, he won the Goodwill Race in 1985, ridden by Tom Mullins.

There have been two British-trained Kerry National winners. Gill Jones won with Ace Of Spies 1991 and Ferdy Murphy with Mac’s Supreme in 2002.

“The idea of going to Listowel is we’ll get a run in early and that will give us a couple of months before one of the races at the end of November,” Bradstock said.

“One thing we don’t know is whether lesser horses carrying 10 stone can go the pace he can with top-weight.”