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Harry Fry is hopeful that his stable star Gidleigh Park can get his novice campaign over fences back on track in the valuable Grade 2 Fitzdares Lightning Novices’ Chase at Windsor on Friday.
Unbeaten in four starts before finishing sixth in the Grade 1 Albert Bartlett Novices' Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival in March, there was plenty of expectation around Harry Fry's geldings debut campaign over the larger obstacles.
Sent off the 10/11 favourite for his chasing debut at Kempton in November, it's fair to say things didn't go to plan for the son of Walk In The Park, with jockey Bryan Carver forced to pull up his mount after jumping just five fences.
An immediate veterinary report found the seven-year-old to have suffered from an irregular heartbeat, something he also experienced back in October 2023.
"We can put a line through his last run," said Fry speaking on Sky Sports Racing. "You could see early on that something wasn't right, and Bryan Carver very sensibly pulled him up after only the fifth fence. He wasn't jumping or travelling and something clearly wasn't right. The vets immediately diagnosed him with an irregular heartbeat or atrial fibrillation to be exact.
"It's something he suffered from in October 2023 so it's not new to us with him. Obviously, he made a full recovery and had a good novices' hurdle campaign afterwards and I'm pleased to say it all reverted on it's own accord after Kempton.
"He didn't require any treatment which is the best-case scenario. That's given us a chance to turn around and make something of this campaign. We've just given him a chance to recover and have been quietly going back up through the gears."
Whilst Harry Fry is hoping his contender can be competitive when potentially taking on the likes of Caldwell Potter, the most expensive National Hunt horse ever sold at public auction, and Dan Skelton's last-time-out Grade 1 Henry VIII Novices' Chase winner L'Eau du Sud, the Dorset-handler believes gaining experience over fences is the main objective as they look to kickstart Gidleigh Park's season.
Fry said: "He's ready to start out again and it feels very much like the start of his season. I'm very much looking forward to seeing him in action.
"He schooled great last week. Look we're putting him into a Grade 2 but they're the only level of novices' chases we can run in now. The graded races. So, at this point, it's very much a case of getting the runs and the experience into him before hopefully some bigger spring targets.
"First and foremost, I'm hoping for a good round of jumping and coming out of it with a clean bill of health. Putting the last day firmly behind us is what we're hoping for. If he does that, then he can be competitive albeit he doesn't have the experience of some of the other horses. It's going to be a small and select field but with quality horses. For us, it's very much about experience and being able to build and progress from it."
The Grade 2 Fitzdares Lightning Novices' Chase at Windsor will be run over the flat two miles, but Fry expects to see Gidleigh Park back over intermediate trips further down the line.
Fry added: "He won over two and two and a half last year before we tried him in the Albert Bartlett, which in hindsight was the wrong race, but we learn every day with horses. Two (miles)
is a nice starting point again and as we get further into the season, I can see him stepping back up in trip to two and a half for sure."