Best Mate coughs up an excuse

Henrietta Knight has revealed Best Mate started coughing on Wednesday - a day after his defeat in the Lexus Chase.

Beaten seven lengths by Beef Or Salmon in the Leopardstown race, Best Mate had cut his head on the ferry journey over and Knight had also pointed to the going - officially soft to heavy - as the cause for his loss.

But the Wantage trainer yesterday told At The Races: "I had thought it was the ground, but now he is coughing, and he is coughing quite a lot.

"Yesterday (Wednesday) evening in his stables he gave a few coughs, and this morning when we fed him, he gave some coughs after that. When he went out on light exercise he coughed about 10 or 12 times.

"He was obviously incubating some kind of a bug.

"I suppose if he was feeling one degree under, it was probably a reason for being a bit lifeless in the race."

Knight added that the gelding, who will turn 10-years-old tomorrow, has already started to receive treatment to remedy the problem.