Racing:Jim Bolger is cranking up Teofilo's workload ahead of the Stan James 2000 Guineas at Newmarket on May 5th as he recovers from a training setback.
The County Carlow handler's Galileo colt caused shockwaves in the ante-post betting last week as rumours of his well-being prompted his price to fluctuate wildly on the betting exchanges, although he still heads the market with the sponsors at 11-4.
The unbeaten Dewhurst winner has been restricted to walking and swimming during the last seven days, but trotted for the first time on Monday morning.
Bolger said: "He will canter on Wednesday, work at half-speed on Thursday and then work at the weekend.
"He'll do some more on Tuesday and then he'll be on the plane (to Newmarket) later in the week."
He continued: "I am very happy with him and things could have not gone better, despite him missing four days earlier in the year due to a stone bruise and then this recent hiccup.
"He has been very fresh at times, but I am totally satisfied with the way he has wintered.
"My only concern is that with a niggly injury it might reoccur or it might be the start of something more serious."
Reflecting on last Monday, Bolger said: "He wasn't quite comfortable after trotting so we decided to go the careful route with him.
"He seems in very good form and is moving well.
"He has been off work for a week, but he has been swimming and took to it well. He was swimming in February too when he had a stone bruise and we knew he would take to it."
Expanding on the injury, Bolger said: "I'm not 100 per cent sure what it was, but I think it was an over-extension injury as he seemed sore at the back of his knee. But the soreness went after some time in the spa."
A crack at the Vodafone Derby will be the next target for Teofilo if all goes well in the Guineas, and Bolger does not envisage the step up from a mile to a mile and a half being a problem.
"I would be amazed if he didn't get a mile and a half as he has such a relaxed way of racing and his pedigree suggests he will stay," he said of the horse named after Olympic boxing legend Teofilo Stevenson.
"He has a wonderful turn of foot and despite a middle-distance pedigree he was able to strut his stuff at seven furlongs as a juvenile.
"My one regret is that I didn't try him at six furlongs last year as he had some of his races won at six furlongs.
"From the work he has done this year, his speed hasn't diminished and neither has his appetite."
And a further increase in his racing distance is a possibility, with Bolger eyeing the Ladbrokes St Leger over a mile and three-quarters should the Guineas and Derby go his way.
Nijinsky and Lester Piggott were the last to claim the Triple Crown back in 1970, but Bolger added: "I am not dictated by fashion.
"It would be a big wrench not to go to Leopardstown for the Champion Stakes, but I would love to give the Triple Crown a go."