Horse Racing: Lad could still make Cheltenham

Limestone Lad could still be in action at the Cheltenham Festival next month despite suffering a freak accident earlier this week.

He was removed from the betting on the Bonusprint Stayers’ Hurdle after damaging back muscles in a paddock accident.

Initially, the injury was thought to be life-threatening but it is now not as bad as first feared.

‘‘If we can get some serious work into him from the latter half of February into March then he could still go to Cheltenham,’’ said trainer James Bowe’s son and assistant Michael.

‘‘He’s receiving electro-magnetic treatment and he’s responding very well to it. He’s going to have another scan done next week.

‘‘The injury is not as bad as we first thought. We were in the dark for the first couple of days and initially we feared the worst.

‘‘But the horse was in a state of shock. It wasn’t until we put sedatives into him that he calmed down.

‘‘The vet did say that the first 24 hours were crucial. Thankfully he improved and every day that goes by he is improving more and more.

‘‘He has a muscle strain in his back which happened when he tried to free himself from a rail. The more he tussled with the fence the more trouble he got himself into. It was quite a traumatic experience for the horse.

‘‘He’s making a good recovery and we’re just glad to have him and have him here.’’

Limestone Lad, who had been Coral’s 11-2 second favourite for next month’s Stayers’ Hurdle, was runner-up to Bacchanal in the three-mile championship race at the last Festival two years ago.

The 10-year-old notched up the 29th win of his career at Naas only last Saturday.