Zaidpour hot Future prospect Zaidpour puts his unbeaten record on the line in the paddypowerpoker.com Future Champions Novice Hurdle at Leopardstown this afternoon. The Willie Mullins-trained four-year-old shot to prominence in the betting for both novice events at Cheltenham with a very easy success in the rearranged Royal Bond at Fairyhouse. And while American owner Rich Ricci admits Zaidpour will have to improve his jumping if he is to succeed in March, he is excited by the prospect. "He has come out of Fairyhouse absolutely fine and I thought he was very impressive. I'm not sure what he beat there, we'll see in time, but the way he has run has been very good and is encouraging to what the horse might be," said Ricci. "He certainly goes well on soft ground and probably wants some ease, but he is by Red Ransom so would probably handle good ground. "Saying that, so far it looks like he prefers a bit of cut. "I think he has demonstrated that he gets both trips (two miles and two and a half) and he'll be entered in both the Supreme Novices' Hurdle and the Neptune Investment Management Novices' Hurdle (at Cheltenham). "We will see, but he has a pretty good turn of foot and we have options." Asked how good the horse is, Ricci replied: "He's had two runs, but he needs to improve his jumping. "Hidden Cyclone will make it a good test for us." Zaidpour is 9-2 with Paddy Power for both the Supreme and the Neptune at Cheltenham. Hidden Cyclone, trained by Shark Hanlon, is one of four rivals in opposition to Zaidpour, the others being First Lieutenant, Hazeymm and Perfect Smile.
