5th March 2019 – Fergal O’Brien is looking forward to running Benny’s Bridge in the Matchbook Imperial Cup Handicap Hurdle at Sandown Park this Saturday.

Last year, Matchbook doubled the bonus for any horse to win both Sandown’s Imperial Cup and any race the following week at the Cheltenham Festival from £50,000 to £100,000.

The bonus remains at £100,000 for this year in a bid to attract owners and trainers to Matchbook’s handicap hurdle, worth £75,000, on March 9 and persuade winning connections to go on to Prestbury Park. A total of 26 entries have been made for Saturday’s feature with a maximum field of 22 allowed.

Talking about the six-year-old gelding who was last seen when winning at Cheltenham on trials day, O’Brien said: