Sport

Mullins unsure when Hurricane Fly will return

WILLIE MULLINS admits he is unsure when his star hurdler Hurricane Fly will return to racecourse action after suffering a sprained…

Wed Dec 23 2009 - 00:00

WILLIE MULLINS admits he is unsure when his star hurdler Hurricane Fly will return to racecourse action after suffering a sprained suspensory ligament.

The son of Montjeu enjoyed a fantastic novice campaign over obstacles, registering three Grade One successes at Fairyhouse, Leopardstown and Punchestown.

The five-year-old was beaten into third by Solwhit and Muirhead on his seasonal reappearance, but had been due to renew rivalries with that pair in next week’s December Festival Hurdle.

That is now off the agenda and he is almost 20 to 1 for the Champion Hurdle on Betfair having been favourite for much of the summer.

READ MORE

“We worked him over the weekend and then when we pulled him out yesterday morning he was lame,” said Mullins.

“It’s obviously very disappointing and we aren’t sure yet when he will come back. I’m not sure if he can receive any treatment or whether he just needs time. I’ll just leave all that to the vets.”

Go Native will face a maximum of eight rivals in the williamhill.com Christmas Hurdle at Kempton on St Stephen’s Day as he bids to keep his connections’ dreams of over a €l million bonus alive.

Noel Meade’s charge took the first leg of the WBX Hurdling Triple Crown with a shock victory in the Fighting Fifth at Newcastle last month.

He now goes for the second leg which saw 2008 Fighting Fifth winner Punjabi fall 12 months ago and shatter hopes of scooping the pool though he did take the third leg, the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham in March.

Meade, who has landed three of the last five runnings, has another string to his bow in Donnas Palm, winner of the Tara Hurdle at Navan earlier this month.

Punjabi’s stablemate Binocular, who was a disappointing fifth on his reappearance in the Fighting Fifth, will try to revive his Champion hopes. Nicky Henderson’s runner carries the colours of JP McManus, who has a second Christmas hopeful in Nick Gifford’s Straw Bear, winner of this race in 2007.

Champion trainer Paul Nicholls has put in last season’s Champion runner-up Celestial Halo and Pepe Simo. Starluck, Cape Tribulation and King’s Revenge complete the list. Iain Turner, PR and sponsorship manager for World Bet Exchange said: “I am delighted to see Go Native entered for the second leg of the at Kempton on Boxing Day.

“However, I wish the race was shaping up to be a bit easier for him to give connections the best chance of winning the WBX Hurdling Triple Crown.”