Drever ready for Newbury return

Inglis Drever is set to return to action in the VC Casino.com Long Distance Hurdle at Newbury on Saturday.

The Howard Johnson-trained seven-year-old landed the World Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival in 2005 before finding Al Eile too strong at Aintree the following month.

Having won at Wetherby and Newbury last autumn, Inglis Drever then fell in Chepstow’s totesport Long Walk Hurdle.

Following that mishap, it was discovered he had strained a tendon which forced connections to cut short his campaign.

He is back in grand shape again now, however, and Graham Wylie, part-owner with wife Andrea, is looking forward to the weekend.

“Certainly Drever will be running. He’s a happy horse, his ears are pricked and he’s very happy in the stables,” he explained.

“I think he’s so fresh that we just need to give him a run.

“He could need the run on Saturday as he’s been off with a leg injury but he’s just so full of himself that we thought we’d get him out and see how he gets on.”

Also entered in the £40,000 affair is the Wylie-owned No Refuge, who was last seen finishing fourth behind Hardy Eustace at Ascot on Saturday.

He seems unlikely to join his stablemate, however, as connections feel the extended three-mile trip is not in his favour.

“He had a race last week at Ascot and Timmy Murphy said he led him all over the place,” Wylie told Racing UK.

“I think he is more of a two-and-a-half-mile specialist.

“We tried him here (at Wetherby) over three miles and he didn’t quite get the trip so I think we’ll keep him to two and a half miles now.”