Khal suffers slight setback

Charles Byrnes’ Stayers’ Hurdle favourite Blazing Khal has suffered a minor setback ahead of his Cheltenham Festival target.

The seven-year-old returned from a 428-day injury-enforced absence to land the Grade Two Boyne Hurdle at Navan a week ago, a performance that catapulted him to the head of the Stayers’ Hurdle market.

Byrnes reports Blazing Khal has “a few bits of nicks” that require treatment following that run, but is hopeful the issue will not take long to resolve.

He said: “Blazing Khal had a few bits of nicks and we had him at the beach.

“It happened to the back of a fetlock and we had to put him on antibiotics, having thought he’d be OK without it.

“These things normally clear up after five or six days and we hope by next week to have him on course.

“It is not ideal but we’ve had worse setbacks!