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Duke scopes dirty after Down Royal run

Our DukeOur Duke
© Photo Healy Racing

Our Duke was reported to have scoped abnormally following his disappointing effort in the Grade 1 JNwine.com Champion Chase at Down Royal today.

The Jessica Harrington-trained gelding was sent off 5/6 favourite to make a winning return to action today.

It became apparent from very early on that he wasn't travelling or jumping with any zest in the three-mile contest.

Robbie Power was sending out distress signals from a long way out on last year's impressive Irish National winner and he eventually trailed in last of the seven finishers.

It was subsequently reported that he had scoped abnormally with a rating of four out of five for mucus.

Harrington said:- “He was beaten going to the first fence. He's scoped abnormally. He'll get a course of antibiotics and we'll go from there. It's the lesser of the evils (it could have been) anyway.”

Power had reported:- “I couldn't hold my position over the first fence so something has definitely gone amiss. He was very lacklustre and it's not him."

About Gary Carson
Gary started out as a trainee/assistant journalist with the Sporting Life newspaper and has worked in the racing industry for over 25 years. He has been with the Press Association since 2013 and won the Irish Field Nap Table in 2016. He enjoys working with horses and trained his own horse, Mamaslittlestar, to win a point-to-point in 2019.