Flow set for a break

Former Hennessy Gold Cup winner Strong Flow will enjoy some rest before returning to training next season.

The 10-year-old had been retired after failing to make a full recovery from a knee injury but joined Dessie Hughes’ team after making significant progress at home.

Connections initially hatched an ambitious plan to tackle Saturday’s Betfred Gold Cup at Sandown but a recent pointing mishap forced a rethink.

“He doesn’t run in the Betfred now as we just didn’t get a run into him,” Hughes explained.

“We were going to run him in a hunter chase but he fell in a point to point and didn’t qualify.

“The plan was to go for the hunter chase at Fairyhouse and then either run at Punchestown or Sandown but he’ll go out now and we’ll get him back in for the autumn.”