Moore eyes Sire track gallop at Plumpton

Gary Moore would like to take Sire De Grugy to Plumpton for a racecourse gallop before his defence of his Queen Mother Champion Chase crown.

Moore’s stable star returned from a lengthy absence in the Game Spirit Chase at Newbury on Saturday, an outing which the trainer labelled a “catalogue of disasters”.

He eventually fell after making several jumping errors.

“He came out of it great, Jamie (Moore) did a light canter with him this morning,” Moore said.

“He had an interrupted and rushed preparation to get him there on Saturday. He never got into a rhythm, the start was messed up by the horse that won (Mr Mole) as he didn’t want to go. It was a catalogue of disasters really.

“He’ll definitely have a gallop and Plumpton will hopefully help me out.”

Paul Nicholls has been dealt a blow with the news that Al Ferof has a problem which will force him to miss his intended run in the Betfair Ascot Chase this weekend and the Cheltenham Festival.

The grey, who finished third in the King George behind stablemate Silviniaco Conti at Kempton, requires surgery on an entrapped epiglottis.

As a consequence, Nicholls will enter his top-class novice Ptit Zig in Saturday’s Grade One contest.

The champion trainer said: “Al Ferof has a minor problem which rules him out of his intended target in the Betfair Ascot Chase on Saturday, and also the Cheltenham Festival.

“He has a partially entrapped epiglottis which requires minor corrective surgery.

“So Ascot and Cheltenham are ruled out as he will be recovering, but the aim is to get him ready for Aintree and Punchestown.

“In the light of that, I will be entering Ptit Zig for the Betfair Ascot Chase at the weekend.”

Kings Palace returned “a bit stiff” after his win at Newbury on Saturday, but trainer David Pipe would not swap him for anything else in the RSA Chase field.

He only faced one rival and made blunders at the same open ditch on both circuits, but still won with his head in his chest to take his total to three wins in as many starts over fences.

Pipe reports his charge be on course for the Festival, although he will be taken out of the Cheltenham Gold Cup leaving the RSA Chase as his target.

“He is hugely exciting and I wouldn’t swap him for anything else at this stage.” Pipe said.