Irish steeplechasing star Florida Pearl was today continuing to make good progress after tests for a suspected damaged joint. The gelding was a beaten 4-5 favourite when finishing third in the James Nicholson Wine Merchant Champion Chase at Down Royal yesterday.
The nine-year-old, trained by Willie Mullins, was later found to have sustained a cut on his off-fore that needed stitching. Mullins said today that Florida Pearl had been seen by a veterinary expert at the Anglesey Lodge veterinary hospital at the Curragh.
"I have just got the news that he is good. They were worried that he might have damaged a joint so wanted to keep him in overnight. He has had an x-ray and scan, and they have done all the examinations, and found that he just has a cut and a bang which hasn't interfered with anything else," he said.
Filed by Tom Grealis
