Trainer Gordon Elliott has confirmed that Empire Of Dirt will compete in the Irish Gold Cup at Leopardstown on February 12.
The 10-year-old won at Cheltenham for former trainer Colm Murphy last year and he has only run once for Elliott so far.
He won at Navan in November but Elliott is now getting him ready for his next outing next month.
Elliot plans to step the bay gelding up in class ahead of a busy few weeks which could also see him run in either the Cheltenham Gold Cup or Grand National.
He told reporters: “So he’ll be entered in that, he’s obviously entered in the Gold Cup but we’ll see what weight he gets in the English National. I’d like to fire as many at that as I can.
“He’ll be entered in the Irish National as well. There’s three weeks between Cheltenham and Aintree this year but we’ll see how he gets on in the Gold Cup at Leopardstown and go from there.”
