ANTHONY Honeyball is keen to give Regal Encore a shot at the Betfred Midlands National provided ground conditions are in his favour.

The Mosterton handler believes the extended four-mile-one-furlong marathon at Uttoxeter on March 18 could be the ideal test for the nine-year-old.

Having claimed his first victory in over a year at Ascot on his penultimate outing, the JP McManus-owned gelding failed to complete his most recent start after pulling up in a Grade Three at Cheltenham.

Honeyball said: “We thought we would get away with two-mile-five around Cheltenham, but Barry Geraghty said he was flat to the boards. It was a bit of a non-event.

“I think at Cheltenham all in all you have got to have that gear change, which he hasn’t got for there.

“I think we will head up to Uttoxeter for the Midlands National. If you said to me it is going to be no worse than good to soft, soft in places than that is where he will be going, but we will obviously have to speak to connections.”

Speaking about Regal Encore to the Bridport News on a recent yard tour of his Mosterton base, Honeyball added: “Every time you go racing with him you feel like something can happen.

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“However big the races, certainly in any big handicaps, you feel he has got the ability to do something special.

“At home you feel like he could do anything if it comes together on the day. Having already won a £100,000 race this season, you just hope you are due another one.”

As well as his established stable star, Honeyball is also excited by a number of developing horses coming through the ranks.

He added: “We need a few more Regal Encores, he was £20,000 as a three-year-old. I know that’s a lot of money but in the grand scheme of things it wasn’t.

“Pure Vision is a horse with a lot of potential coming through as is Fountains Windfall.

“From an outsider looking in you may think ‘yeah they are okay’ but we see enough at home, certainly with Pure Vision to make a really good chaser.

“Windfall could also do plenty over hurdles before going chasing.”

He added: “We do well with what we have got, a lot of the best horses we have got and had through the years have been ones we have bought as youngsters and created ourselves. We have bought them on spec and then try and find owners for them.

“We have the biggest in JP McManus on board but you cannot rely one person and it’s getting more big owners to believe in us.

“We are a smallish yard at the minute with big yard facilities. We have the infrastructure to have a lot more horses.”