The Reverend could make hurdling bow this week

The outcome of a key schooling session could be the determining factor in The Reverend making his hurdling bow at Leopardstown.

Owned by Brighton & Hove Albion supremo Tony Bloom, the four-year-old ended his spell with William Haggas with a rating of 102 after winning for the fourth time on the level in Haydock’s Old Borough Cup in September.

Switched to Willie Mullins to try his hand over obstacles, he has an entry for the TRI Equestrian Maiden Hurdle on Friday that the Closutton team won with subsequent Supreme Novices’ Hurdle hero Kopek Des Bordes 12 months ago, and have also won with fellow Cheltenham scorer Klassical Dream in the last 10 years.

However, it appears The Reverend has one vital piece of preparation to complete before a decision is made on his participation in the Irish capital on December 26.

Bloom’s racing manager Sean Graham said: “The Reverend is going to school again and has schooled fine so far, but they just want to school him again before deciding if he runs or not. If everyone is happy, then there is probably a fair chance he will run.

“There’s been some good horses beaten in that race as well as good ones that have won it and it’s a maiden hurdle that does take a bit of winning, you probably need to be a graded horse to be involved at the finish.”

Although now with Mullins with hurdling in mind, connections are willing to keep an open mind given his profile for valuable events back on the Flat in the summer months.

“We’re keen to get a run into The Reverend sooner rather than later to see if he is cut out for a hurdles campaign,” continued Graham.

“He’s that highly rated on the Flat that even if he only had a couple of hurdles runs we wouldn’t mind and we would be very happy going back and aiming him at something like the Ebor. That would be the race for him because the form of the Old Borough Cup he won at Haydock is working out very well.

“If he runs Leopardstown and doesn’t run well and doesn’t jump well then we then have to decide if we even persist with hurdles given his Flat prowess, everything is a little up in the air with him.”