Sumos setback for Burke Liam Burke is enjoying his best season numerically for a decade but the Cork trainer had to shelve plans to run Sumos Novios in the Goffs Thyestes Chase on Thursday and fears the gelding may not run again this term. The lightly-raced 12-year-old son of Flemensfirth has been a grand servant to Burke and recorded his sixth career win in the valuable Tim Duggan Memorial Handicap Chase at Limerick last month. However, plans to run the mud-loving veteran in the Thyestes, a race Burke won with My Murphy four years ago, had to be shelved after suffering a muscle injury earlier this week. He said, “Sumos Novios pulled muscles on Monday morning and has been very sore since. He has no bone damage but I’d say he’ll be out for this season. “He’ll be out for at least a month or six weeks and I’d say the ground will be gone for him. The only race that he might be back for would be the Imperial Call in Cork at Easter but if there is any doubt then I won’t run him.” Burke, who saddled Sir Frederick to land the Galway Plate back in 2007 and enjoyed a Grade One victory the following year with Thyne Again in the Arkle Chase at Leopardstown, also had an update on recent impressive bumper winner Coolbane Boy. The five-year-old gelding, one of eight individual winners for Burke this season, was confidently ridden to score at Thurles last Sunday. “I closed the door on myself by running him over hurdles and will probably have to give him a break now and keep him as a novice for next season. “There’s only two bumpers he can run in between now and the end of the season. He can’t run in any of the good bumpers.”
