Inca on top form

Colm Murphy reported Brave Inca to have come out of his victory in the Smurfit Kappa Champion Hurdle “exceptionally well”.

Ridden by Tony McCoy, the 7-4 favourite returned to one of the biggest cheers at the Cheltenham Festival after his game one-length success from Macs Joy.

The Wexford-based handler hinted that the eight-year-old may now be seen on a racecourse twice before the end of the season.

“It was a fantastic week,” said Murphy. “He has come out of the race exceptionally well. We’ve been delighted with him. He is in great order.

“All being well, I would say that we will be heading to Punchestown with him.

“He fell in the Aintree Hurdle over two and a half miles last year and we haven’t completely ruled that out yet either.

“But, at this stage, Punchestown is his target.

“He has come out of Cheltenham in such good form though that Aintree is also an option.”

Murphy also refused to rule out the possibility of going chasing with his stable star, an option that had been mooted earlier in the season.

He added: “We haven’t discussed going chasing with him for a while and we’ll see how we get on at Punchestown.

“I’ll have a chat with the owners before we rule anything out.”