D'Haguenet could return this month

Willie Mullins hopes to have Mikael D'Haguenet back in action before the end of the month.

The brilliant six-year-old is unbeaten since joining Mullins, his six-race haul including last year's Ballymore Properties Novices' Hurdle at Cheltenham.

However he is yet to see the racetrack this term after a splint problem - but his return is now imminent.

"I had him up at the vets on Wednesday and they can't really find anything, maybe just a little stiffness behind but that might just have been caused by transferring weight from the front with the splint" Mullins said.

"We are going to carry on with him and the weather is now a bigger obstacle than anything else but hopefully he will be out before the end of the month."

Mikael D'Haguenet was expected to go over fences this term but was recently quoted for the Smurfit Kappa Champion Hurdle after speculation he may stick to the smaller obstacles.

"At the moment he is novice chasing. He hasn't schooled recently but he's run over fences in France and is a natural jumper so we're not too unduly worried about that," Mullins added.

"I'm not even worried about targets yet - let's just get back to the racetrack first."