Salmon on course for Gold Cup after scoping clean
Michael Hourigan's charge disappointed when a remote second to Rule Supreme in the Irish Hennessy last month, after which he was found to be suffering from an upper respiratory tract infection.
However, the nine-year-old has been pleasing his trainer in recent days and after giving him a spin at Limerick yesterday, Hourigan said: "He worked well and scoped clean afterwards which was a great relief.
"One of my lads rode him and he will do a bit more next week. All we need now is to keep him sound and hope that he scopes clean over the next two weeks. I'd say that he is as well now as he has been all year."
Meanwhile Irish Derby winner Grey Swallow is likely to have the Tattersalls Gold Cup at the Curragh on May 22 as his early-season target.
Dermot Weld's son of Daylami showed a terrific burst of speed when beating North Light by half a length in the Irish Classic at the Curragh last summer.
However, the rest of his season did not go to plan as he could only finish fourth in the Irish Champion Stakes before disappointing in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, in which he trailed home second-last.
"We have been unable to do much with him in the last few weeks because of the weather," Weld told At The Races. "He could start off in the Group Three Mooresbridge Stakes at the Curragh (May 2), and then go for the Tattersalls Gold Cup."
Before that Group One contest, which is run on the Irish 1000 Guineas card, Weld plans to send three horses to the Cheltenham Festival, headed by yesterday's impressive Limerick winner Queen Astrid.
"She did it very well, won by 20 lengths and jumped very well," said Weld. "The plan would be to head straight to Cheltenham now but we haven't decided in which race to run her.
"I just wanted to caution that but the SunAlliance (Hurdle) would be most likely, although she is in the three-miler (Brit Insurance Novices' Hurdle) and the Supreme Novices'.
"She is a stakes-performing filly over over nine and 10 furlongs on the Flat and is a stakes winner over a mile and six so she is pretty adaptable."
Expanding on his Cheltenham team, Weld continued: "Akshar is in the Supreme Novices' and is a possibility if the ground is good or good to firm, as he is a top of the ground horse, and Loyal Focus is pretty certain to go in the Triumph."
