Harry Fry confirms Idaho Sun will remain over hurdles once he recovers from injury

Idaho Sun was in the top half of the ante-post market for the Sky Bet Supreme Novices' Hurdle only for injury to strike on the eve of the March showpiece.

Sixth in the Champion Bumper the previous year, Idaho Sun quickly made up into a smart hurdler, winning twice before being stepped up to Grade 1 company for the Formby Novices' Hurdle at Aintree.

A number of hurdles were omitted due to the low sun in Liverpool where a lot of the focus - both before and after the race - was on beaten favourite Mydaddypaddy who was held in similarly high regard by Dan Skelton.

Mydaddypaddy lived up to his billing when second in the Festival curtain raiser with some observers feeling he was a little unlucky not to have gone one better having met with interference after the last and Fry was asked whether it was galling to watch a rival they had beaten go so close to claiming the Sky Bet Supreme Novices' Hurdle (replay below).

"The disappointing phase had passed by then," he told Racing TV, "it was more you wanted to see him run well to show that we were right in thinking that we could have gone there with a good chance and, certainly, to see the first four home British trained and Mydaddypaddy, you could say being unlucky with what happened after the last. But that was racing and I took the positives out of it that we'd have been right in the mix.

"Obviously different day, different race, you never know quite what would have happened but you would have liked to have thought that we would have been right there in the mix with him."

Idaho Sun is making progress in his recovery and Fry already has his sights set on next season.

"It was very disappointing to miss the Festival but we've diagnosed [the injury], the vets have done a good job and we're dealing with a stress fracture to his hock," he continued.

"He's already walking and, all being well, he'll have a usual summer rest once he's completed his recuperation and we can look forward to starting next season afresh.

"The focus moves to, first and foremost getting him right, and then looking forward to what we might be able to achieve with him next season.

"This injury has made up our mind really so we will definitely look to start back over hurdles and see where that takes us. We could always switch to chasing but keen to start back over hurdles for sure."

More from Sporting Life

• Free bets
• Racecards
• Fast results
• Full results and free video replays
• Horse racing news
• Horse racing tips
• Horse racing features
• Download our free iOS and Android app
• Football and other sports tips
• Podcasts and video content

Safer gambling

We are committed in our support of safer gambling. Recommended bets are advised to over-18s and we strongly encourage readers to wager only what they can afford to lose.

If you are concerned about your gambling, please call the National Gambling Helpline / GamCare on 0808 8020 133.

Further support and information can be found at begambleaware.org and gamblingtherapy.org.