Salmon Firmly On Course For Gold Beef Or Salmon continued his preparation for next week´s totesport Cheltenham Gold Cup with a final serious piece of work this morning. Michael Hourigan´s chestnut scoped badly when second to Rule Supreme in the Hennessy Gold Cup at Leopardstown last month and was found to be suffering from an upper respiratory tract infection afterwards. All is well now, however, and a delighted Hourigan said: 'He worked well on the racecourse this morning, and scoped clean, so everything is fine, 'I imagine that will be his last real piece of work before next week.' Beef Or Salmon had previously outpointed Best Mate in the Lexus Chase at Christmas but sadly a rematch is not on the cards after the news yesterday that his rival misses the Gold Cup after breaking a blood vessel. And Hourigan was full of sympathy for Best Mate´s connections. 'It was a hell of a shock for me, and it just goes to show how much pressure we are under to get the horses ready,' he said. (C) PA Sport
