Knight reports Mate on the way back

Henrietta Knight reports that triple Gold Cup winner Best Mate has recovered from a bout of coughing and will soon be ready to knuckle down to his preparation for Cheltenham in March.

The 10-year-old suffered from ill-fortune on his trip to Ireland over Christmas, when he was defeated by Beef Or Salmon, and spent a while on the easy list feeling sorry for himself.

He returned to the yard with a cut head and a cough and had lost weight, but he pleased his groom Jackie Jenner after a workout this morning.

“It was the first day that he went out to exercise and came back with no coughs at all – he has been giving just the odd cough,” Miss Knight told Racing UK.

“Jackie said he felt really good today, and he is just starting out on the comeback trail. We are delighted with him and his coat is starting to bloom again.

“I have never seen him so low. He was standing there with his head down, and that is very unlike him – he is always looking over the stable door, and didn’t do that for two or three days.

“He has had a spell in the paddock and some cough medicine, and I think we will see a different horse when he comes back in March.

“He lost quite a lot of weight in Ireland and came back looking run-out and drawn, so he has been having quite a lot of extra feeding to build up his body mass, and will be doing quite a lot of work on the hills to build his muscles up again.”