Battle-hardened Inca out for the season

Brave Inca, winner of the 2006 Champion Hurdle, has been ruled out of the upcoming National Hunt season with a tendon injury.

However, trainer Colm Murphy hopes the nine-year-old, successful in nine Grade One races to date, will make a full recovery to resume his racing career in the future.

“The results of a scan showed there was some damage to his near-fore tendon,” explained the County Wexford-based handler.

“It’s something that he should make a 100% recovery from but it rules him out for the year.

“He’ll have a controlled programme at the moment, going on the horse walker and so forth. It will be a case of just restricting him this year. At that level he would have to be 100% to be competitive.

“He’s incredible – he’s something else. He owes no-one nothing and we owe him everything.

“Hindsight’s a wonderful thing and if I had the time again I wouldn’t have run him at Punchestown in April. It had been such a long, hard season.

“I have no doubt in my mind he will get three miles and I still believe he can be very competitive at two,” Murphy told At The Races.

“I think we just went to the well one too many times.”