Al Eile is on target to bid for a third win in the Scottish and Newcastle Pub Enterprises Aintree Hurdle on Saturday week.

John Queally sidestepped the Cheltenham Festival with his stable star to concentrate on the £160,000 Grade One contest over two and a half miles.

Al Eile is a standing dish at the Liverpool venue for as well as winning the Aintree Hurdle in 2005 and 2007, he landed the Grade Two Novices' Hurdle in 2004.

"The intention is to go and he's on target," said Queally.

"He's won the Aintree Hurdle twice and won there three times in all and it's all systems go.

"He had a nice run on the Flat in Harchibald's race in Dundalk a month ago and we've just kept him ticking over since."

Queally has no worries about the state of the going.

"The ground's normally OK," added Queally, who has booked Timmy Murphy, the successful rider in Al Eile's three wins at Aintree.

"At Aintree in the spring, it's never too deep there."

The County Waterford handler also revealed that Nina Carberry, who steered Where Now into third place in the John Smith's Fox Hunters' Chase 12 months ago, will be in the plate in the amateur riders' Grand National next Thursday.

"He's won all his three point-to-points this year and we're hoping for a big run from him again if we get cut in the ground," Queally concluded.

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