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/ Timeform / 01 February 2012 / Leave a Comment 
Mark Bradstock's Carruthers.
""He's OK now, but we were extremely lucky in that melee at the first bend at Chepstow..."
Carruthers could be back in action at Newbury on Saturday week after escaping serious injury in the Coral Welsh National.
The Hennessy hero, who won that Grade handicap despite running to a Timeform rating still 7 lb shy of his peak 158 figure, needed several stitches after being badly struck into in the Chepstow marathon.
Mark Bradstock's popular nine-year-old, owned and bred by Lord Oaksey, claimed a famous success when making most of the running at Newbury in November and may be fit enough to return there for the Betfair Denman Chase.
"He's OK now, but we were extremely lucky in that melee at the first bend at Chepstow because a centimetre either way could have been structural damage and fatal, but it was nasty and through to the bone," said trainer Mark Bradstock's wife and assistant Sara.
"That would have gone a long way to explaining the run. He hated been stuck in the middle of the bunch anyway, but he would have been lacking power off one back leg.
"Probably the fact he went a circuit doing that has been a bit of an overstrain on a hamstring. It's not bad, but he's not lame, it's just a tweak.
"He gives his all, so he has to be perfect.
"He's back in training and the plan is to go to Newbury. Whether he will make that or not we don't know at this stage. We'll see how he is at the end of the week."
Looking further ahead, Carruthers is currently [180.0] for the Cheltenham Gold Cup, a race in which he finished ninth last year but fourth to Imperial Commander in 2010.
George Charlton has Cheltenham Festival aspirations for Knockara Beau following his third-placed finish in the Argento Chase....
As expected, last year's Grand National hero Ballabriggs will return for another crack at the Aintree showpiece on Saturday April 14......
Trainer Robbie Hennessy will follow a tried-and-tested route by running Rubi Light at Gowran before heading to Cheltenham......
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