Bob Olinger could make his eagerly-awaited chasing debut at Gowran Park on Saturday after missing his intended weekend engagement due to a stone bruise.
The six-year-old was a superb winner of the Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival when last seen, and was due to run over fences for the first time at Punchestown in what would also have been his seasonal debut.
Bruising on the sole of his hoof scuppered that plan, but trainer Henry de Bromhead has an alternative contest in mind.
“Bob Olinger just wasn’t 100 per cent, so we said we’d leave him and maybe go to Gowran next week,” he said. “It’s not a big thing.
“There is a two-and-a-half-mile beginners’ chase at Gowran so hopefully he’ll go for that.”