Murphy hoping for favourable ground

Ferdy Murphy is praying for good ground at Cheltenham ahead of Kalahari King’s run in the Irish Independent Arkle Trophy on Tuesday week.

The exciting novice chaser was among a group of Festival hopefuls the West Witton trainer worked after racing at Doncaster on Saturday.

“They are all grand. I was delighted and all the jockeys came back very positive. There wasn’t anybody who said anything amiss, they all jumped great and did what we wanted,” said Murphy.

“Obviously I was very pleased with Kalahari King and Graham (Lee) was chuffed with him. If we could just get that ground at Cheltenham we’d have a bit of fun, but I don’t know if we are going to get that.

“I was also happy Naiad Du Misselot (Jewson Novices’ Handicap Chase) and I thought L’Antartique (Ryanair Chase) went particularly well.

“Now it’s just a matter of ticking away until the following week.

“It was fantastic that Doncaster gave us the opportunity to do that. It’s good for racing and creates a bit of interest and keeps everything ticking over.”