Sprinter had small bleed at Ascot Sprinter Sacre was found to be have suffered a small bleed after his comeback run in second in the Sodexo Clarence House Chase at Ascot. Plenty of fanfare surrounded his return to action and everything appeared to be going to plan before he tired between the final two fences and was beaten by Dodging Bullets. He had been off the track for over a year with a heart problem and while his trainer Nicky Henderson was pleased to give him the all-clear on that front, he did report that a small amount of blood was found in his nostrils when he was giving a post-race sample. "He's been scoped and the veterinary advice that I am being given is that they don't think it was anything that affected his performance today, but keeping everyone in the picture they did find some blood in his nostrils when he was examined," Henderson told Racing UK. "I could do without it, but I don't think it's a serious problem. Celia Marr, the heart specialist, has been here all day and she was delighted with him. I don't think the two things are in any way connected. "It's relevant but not seriously significant. You go through that extra bit of pressure in a race which you don't do anywhere else. The veterinaries are filling me with confidence that there's nothing of significance." In the race Henderson's superstar travelled with his usual fluency and drew gasps from the crowds with some of his leaps in the hands of Barry Geraghty, but he had no answer to the Tingle Creek winner. Trained by Paul Nicholls and bred by Frankie Dettori, the Noel Fehily-ridden Dodging Bullets had Sprinter Sacre's measure approaching the final fence and went on to win by three lengths to confirm his status as one of the most improved horses in training. Despite having failed to win, Geraghty could not have been prouder of Sprinter Sacre. The jockey said: "He ran a great race. Obviously we'd have loved him to have won, but he just got tired. He looked brilliant, he felt great. He was a winner for me everywhere until we straightened up, when he started to tread water, which he was entitled to after a year off. "We went a good gallop and I believe the time was very good. He was beaten fair and square on the day, but with a run under his belt he'd improve. Even his jumping would be rusty for him, so that would improve, too. Bar winning, you couldn't be happier." Henderson expects Sprinter Sacre to have gained plenty from the run ahead of a possible attempt to regain his crown in the Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase at the Cheltenham Festival in March. The Seven Barrows handler said: " It was great to see he was full of his enthusiasm, he travelled into the straight like himself and just got tired. There was no messing about. They went a good gallop and it just found him out in the end. I loved the way he travelled and I'm pleased we decided to run. Only one day matters and he'll come on plenty for it." Fehily said of the 7-2 winner: "It's another great training performance from Paul Nicholls. They went hard from flag-fall. He stays well, and the Cheltenham hill wouldn't be any problems for him. He's a great horse." Nicholls is on holiday in Barbados, but tweeted: "Well done Team Ditcheat. Proud of you all." The handler's assistant Tom Jonason said: "He's on an upward curve but he's improving so much physically and is bigger and stronger. This came off the back of a career-best in the Tingle Creek, so that has proved to be solid form. "Sprinter may have needed the run, but our lad's performance was absolutely out of the top drawer. He's also improved mentally and gradually gets better and better. It was a perfectly judged ride from Noel - they went very hard early and it was an absolute peach."
