Footpad, unbeaten in four starts over fences, including Tuesday's Grade 1 Arkle Chase for novices, may have the Grade 1 Cheltenham Gold Cup in his long-range future.

Footpad won the Arkle by 14 lengths in his first start in a Grade 1 chase. Ridden by Ruby Walsh, Footpad overcame a bad mistake halfway through the race. The victory led top Irish trainer Willie Mullins to contemplate how far the 6-year-old gelding can progress. 

At one point, the JLT Novices' Chase at 2 1-2 miles on Thursday was considered before Tuesday's race was selected.

"We had this fella marked down as a JLT horse and were looking around to buy novices chasers to run over two miles," Mullins said. "When we ran this fella in his first two races, we said, 'Eh, we have the best one in our yard.'

His jumping has just gone up another gear, and he can stay, so we might have a Gold Cup horse on our hands."