Kingwell then Champion Hurdle for Iriving Champion Hurdle aspirant Irving could return to action in the Bathwick Tyres Kingwell Hurdle at Wincanton on February 14th. The Paul Nicholls-trained seven-year-old has endured a stop-start campaign thus far, suffering a heavy fall on his reappearance in Wincanton's Elite Hurdle before a sound victory in the Fighting Fifth at Newcastle. He was expected to at least give Faugheen something to think about in the Christmas Hurdle at Kempton on St Stephens Day, but was pulled up before the home straight and it later emerged he was suffering from a foot problem. Dan Downie, racing manager for the Axom syndicate, said: "He's fine again now and is back in the swing of things. Everyone is very happy with him at the moment. "He had an abscess on his foot and it was all bit of a nightmare at the time. "Faugheen was obviously very good on the day and whether we would have beaten him, who knows? It would just have been nice for our horse to have run his race. "We'll go straight for the Kingwell now and, all going well, he'll then go on to the Champion Hurdle. "We'll find out what we have at Cheltenham."
