Beef Or Salmon's poor display in the Ericsson Chase can be put down to mucus in his lungs, according to his trainer Michael Hourigan.
The seven-year-old was never travelling well in the Grade One contest at Leopardstown and eventually finished 13 lengths behind Best Mate in third.
"He's fine but he has some mucus in his lungs. That explains his poor performance," Hourigan said today. "It's just one of those things. You don't know until you run them."
Beef Or Salmon's condition will be monitored but the Limerick-based handler is optimistic that the problem will have cleared by the end of the week.
"He'll be okay in four or five days, hopefully. We'll check him over and then see what to do after that. Plans are on hold for the moment," added Hourigan.
Beef Or Salmon, who had won the Ericsson last year, has drifted as far as 16-1 for the Cheltenham Gold Cup.