Kim Bailey reports Charbel to be none the worse for his heavy fall two fences from the finish in last week’s Racing Post Arkle.
The six-year-old had finished second to eventual Arkle winner Altior in the Henry VIII Novices’ Chase at Sandown in December and appeared to be running a massive race from the front under David Bass before taking a tumble.
Bailey was left to reflect on what might have been, but expects to get his charge back out again before the end of the season following a schooling session.
The trainer told Racing UK: “I’m happy with Charbel, he’s been cantering all week. We haven’t schooled him yet, we’ll do that next week, and then we’ll make a decision where to go with him next.
“The horse has taken the race remarkably well, he looks fantastically well, I’m happy, but it was an unlucky day really.
“I think he’s a lovely horse, he was very fit and very ready for Cheltenham – we had trained him specifically for the Arkle. We had a decision to make which race to go for and we were confident we were going to run very well.
“History doesn’t give us the chance to decide what would have happened as we fell two out which is still a long way from home. Altior was impressive enough, though possibly not as impressive as he has been in the past but there you go, it just didn’t happen. “
