Cheltenham Festival: Dan Skelton to send West Cork straight to County Hurdle in March after Ascot overreach
West Cork won the Greatwood Hurdle at Cheltenham last month and returned with an injury after finishing fifth in the Betfair Exchange Trophy at Ascot on Saturday; trainer Dan Skelton happy now to wait for County Hurdle in March
Monday 20 December 2021 14:06, UK
Greatwood Hurdle winner West Cork suffered an overreach at Ascot on Saturday and will go straight to the Cheltenham Festival.
The seven-year-old returned from over 600 days off the track to win at Cheltenham last month, but trainer Dan Skelton also thinks he may have bounced at the weekend.
Given he also came back with an injury, Skelton is happy to wait until March for his next run.
Speaking in a video posted on his Twitter account, Skelton said: "We didn't quite get the result we wanted after the Greatwood. He jumped two out going really well and I think he bounced on us.
"He actually came back with quite a severe overreach which we've had to put a cast on just to hold everything together.
"He's fine on it, he's 100 per cent weight-bearing on it and can walk on it, he's sound.
"He'll go straight to Cheltenham now for the County Hurdle, a race we've won a few times before and I think he'll go really well in that.
"That second run after a layoff, we don't understand why it happens, but he seems absolutely fine."
