Murphy plays waiting game
The nine-year-old is entered in both the Normans Grove Chase at Fairyhouse on Sunday and also the Bank Of Ireland Hurdle at Naas a day earlier.
Murphy has no particular preference for either race though, and he will make a decision based on which venue has the better ground.
“Unfortunately, we are no nearer a decision as to where he will run,” said Murphy.
“We won’t know until declaration time where the better ground is and that is going to determine where he goes.
“Both races look very difficult so we will not be choosing the ‘easy’ option anyway.
“There is no point running him on bottomless ground because we know he doesn’t act on it.”
At present, conditions are slightly better at Naas which is officially described as soft to heavy while it is heavy at Fairyhouse.
“He’s in good form and we would like to run him but he won’t go on heavy ground,” Murphy added.
“I have said before that it wouldn’t worry us if he went to Cheltenham without another run but it would be nice if we could get one into him.”
Newmill is currently a general 4-1 chance to repeat his victory of last year in the Queen Mother in March.
Meanwhile, Tom Taaffe has reported his Lanzarote Hurdle flop Finger Onthe Pulse to be fine following his disappointing effort at Kempton.
The six-year-old had won two handicaps with relative ease this season after showing useful form as a novice.
However, he could finish no closer than 11th in testing ground last weekend and plans are now on hold.
“Finger is absolutely fine after the weekend,” said Taaffe.
“I’m not quite sure whether the adrenalin buzz was just too much for him or not.
“I think the whole travelling thing may have just have worn him out but he seems fine.
“That may be just how good he is but he also had a lot of weight.
“I haven’t really got anything planned for him yet, I’ll just sit on the fence for a while and see how he is.”
