Nicky Henderson has revealed Sir Gino has encountered further complications unrelated to the fractured pelvis he suffered in last month's Unibet Hurdle at Cheltenham.
Owned by Joe and Marie Donnelly, Sir Gino has developed an infection while recovering from the fracture and it looks a crucial period for the six-year-old.
Henderson said on the Nick Luck Daily Podcast: "I'd be wrong to say we were sailing," said Henderson. "The actual fracture itself is not an issue - the pelvis, they're happy with that. But having said that, we do have complications and he's still up in Worcestershire so we're desperately trying to get him back home to his owner.
"Somehow, we're back on top of the same issue from last year (ligament infection in hind leg) which is a big worry. It's got no relation to what happened at Cheltenham at all.
"So I'm hoping in the next 24 hours - our vets are having to go up there on a daily basis to get the right treatment into him. We've got to get them working on it and get on top of it."
Lulamba all set for Newbury
Meanwhile, Henderson has revealed his thinking behind running Lulamba in the Game Spirit Chase.
Lulamba also had an entry in Saturday's Kingmaker Novices' Chase at Warwick but on Thursday morning was confirmed among a final field of seven for the William Hill-backed Grade 2 contest at Newbury, a race won by Sprinter Sacre and Altior for the Seven Barrows stable in the past.
Lulamba is the odds-on favourite to win the two-mile feature and rubber-stamp his credentials for next month's Singer Arkle Challenge Trophy Novices' Chase at Cheltenham, for which the five-year-old heads the antepost market at a general 6/4.
Henderson, who opted against declaring Jango Baie for the Denman Chase on the same card on account of the testing conditions, said on Thursday's Nick Luck Daily Podcast: "We've every intention of running, we want to and that is the plan. I'd just put a little caveat in just in case it became treacherous ground and if we figured we'd do more harm than good.
"The good thing really is that we need some experience, he doesn't need to race but he's a horse that gets very fresh and it certainly won't do any harm. It's just a bit more jumping practice really, mainly because in his first run at Exeter they only just six fences I think it was, because of low sun. Then he was very good around Sandown to be fair, I'd like him to just go and do it once more in public and before the Arkle.
"I hope we're doing the right thing, and by taking on the older horses too. Altior ran in this as a novice and I was going to run Sir Gino in it as a novice last year before everything went wrong.
"He's like a naughty schoolboy sometimes, I mean he's just so playful and so fresh every morning. After Cheltenham last year and he was so fresh afterwards, we had to start riding him and we actually took him to Aintree with views of running there, and actually the ground was too quick. We dodged that and went to Punchestown where he won the Grade 1, he's a great character and I think he just loves life and loves doing what he does best."
Henderson and stable jockey Nico de Boinville also team up on Saturday's Newbury card with high-class Flat recruit Fantasy World, who runs against older horses in the opening William Hill Racing Epic Boosts Novices' Hurdle.
The trainer feels the timing is right for the juvenile to make a start over obstacles having won three times for Andrew Balding on the level.
He said: "I'm hopeful. He loves his jumping and he's been good at that. We have to start somewhere and time is creaking along. Andrew Balding recalls he went to Yarmouth one day and they actually had an inspection it was so wet, and he handled that well.
"We're against the older horses, which isn't the norm, but funny enough Act Of Innocence got beaten by a very nice four-year-old of Paul Nicholls the other day at Newbury, and we were beaten because of it. Newbury is a good place to be doing this."
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