Moore hopes Sire can make Cheltenham
The eight-year-old carried all before him last term, notching up four Grade One victories including the Tingle Creek and Queen Mother Champion Chases.
He had been due to return to action at Cheltenham last Sunday but was found to be lame behind following a routine piece of work just days before the Shloer Chase, prompting fears of a pelvic injury or a fracture.
However, Moore has confirmed Sire De Grugy has a hip issue but is hopeful he can defend his Champion Chase crown in March.
“I’m hoping Cheltenham is not ruled out but he definitely won’t run again this year,” Moore said. “The Champion Chase now has to be his target. I don’t think this will be season-ending. I don’t really know but I certainly hope not.”
Moore added: “He’s not fractured his pelvis or suffered a stress fracture or anything, but he does have a hot area in his hip.
“He’s done some damage to his hip and I don’t know if that’s good or bad really.
“What happens now is that he spends the next month on the walker and then he will be rescanned.
“It’s not the worst case scenario, but it’s hard to tell the extent of the damage and we’ve never had anything like this happen before.”
