Murphy Hopeful Of Feathard Festival Recovery Colm Murphy has issued an upbeat bulletin on Feathard Lady after X-rays on her injured leg came back clear. The unbeaten six-year-old, who was last seen winning the Christmas Hurdle at Sandown by 12 lengths, has sprained her off-fore fetlock joint and will definitely miss the AIG Europe Champion Hurdle at Leopardstown on January 29. However, the favourable X-Ray results have given Murphy a renewed belief his highly-rated mare could make the Cheltenham Festival, where she is a leading fancy for the Smurfit Champion Hurdle. He said: 'We are hoping it´s nothing too serious but it is quite tender and sore. Luckily enough the X-Rays and so forth are all clear. 'At this stage, it´s just giving her time and all the attention she requires. 'The next couple of days will tell us exactly where we are going - we are hopeful she won´t be out too long. 'We are so lucky in the fact that she doesn´t take (much) work. 'It´s just a case of giving her a bit of time to heal. We were just afraid of pushing on in the hurdle race (the AIG) and doing some real damage.'(C) PA Sport
