Marito is likely to have one run in February before a tilt at the Foxhunter Chase at the Cheltenham Festival.

Formerly trained by Willie Mullins before joining Colin McBratney in 2014, the 10-year-old made an impressive hunter chase debut when winning by a wide margin at Down Royal over Christmas.

McBratney said: "He'll get an entry in the hunter chase at Leopardstown next month (February 6th) and there is also a point-to-point he can run in on the same weekend.

"We'll see what the weather is doing nearer the time.

"If the ground came up heavy, we'd probably take the easier option and go for the point-to-point and then hope the ground dries up for Cheltenham.

"He's unbeaten in three point-to-points and won his hunter chase well in Down Royal.

"He's always been a talented horse - he ran Hurricane Fly to just over a length over hurdles one day.

"He's obviously had one or two issues, but fingers crossed we can keep him right."