Olly Murphy reflects on a frustrating week which saw him hit the crossbar on a couple of occasions at the Cheltenham Festival.
The Warwickshire handler's Cheltenham got off to a bad start before the racing had even begun when Indeevar Blue, one of his better chances and among the ante-post favourites for the BetMGM Cup, was ruled out of the meeting along with lively outsider They Call Me Hugo.
Matters didn't get a whole lot better on the first day but by the end of the week, Murphy had seen Ikarak and Sticktotheplan hit the places and others perform creditably.
Speaking to Racing TV after saddling Doctor Ken to victory at Kempton on Saturday, Murphy said: "We didn't get the rub of the green through the week really but at the same time have no excuses.
"We had placed horses, Booster Bob was running well when he fell, Act Of Authority got a rough old passage through and was beaten three lengths into fifth; plenty ran with credit but just one of those weeks really."
On the future for Sticktotheplan, he replied: "We're looking for something similar [to the County Hurdle] now whether that will be Aintree or Punchestown or something like that but ultimately he will be a lovely two, two and a half mile chaser next season and he's a nice young horse to look forward to."
Wade Out, though, is proving to be a headscratcher with the talented seven-year-old doing well to take sixth in the National Hunt Novices' Handicap Chase having looked more likely to be lapped.
"Oh god," his trainer responded with evident exasperation. "Ever so frustrating.
"Cheekpieces had absolutely no effect whatsoever. He was about half a furlong behind and was beaten 20 lengths. He's got plenty of ability.
"I need to have a chat with the owners but I imagine we'll probably come back over hurdles and try and get his mojo back in that way because he's certainly not off a bad mark whether he's a horse for a Pertemps next year or something like that.
"Ever so frustrating because he's got plenty of ability, just need to find the key to him."
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