Time For Rupert has been handed a surprising entry for the 2011 Cheltenham Gold Cup in March.

The superstar novice chaser is sure to be on his way to the Festival but it will come as a surprise to many that the six-year-old has been given the chance to take his hand in the world’s most prestigious jumps race.

Trainer Paul Webber has been excited by the impact Time For Rupert has had on the chasing scene and he explained: "He got a tiny little over-reach, but other that he seems absolutely fine. There's nothing that's worrying either him or us.  He's had two wonderfully smooth passages around Cheltenham, I'm sure he won't get another one but it couldn't have gone any better so far.

"There are no novice races at the next two Cheltenham meetings that would suit him and there are not many novice races that would particularly suit him elsewhere, so the Argento Chase has to be an option.

"The timing of the Argento Chase would be good, but if that wasn't on for some reason, there is the Towton Novices' Chase at Wetherby the following week.

"There is a chance he could go straight to the Festival in March, as we don't want to run him for the sake of running him if the timing is not right.

"I would imagine he'll have an entry in the Gold Cup, as who knows what might happen.

"We may have a cloud of locusts or a typhoon on one day that might not happen on another day.

"So he'll have an entry, but I'm pretty sure we'll work towards the RSA Chase to start with."