Michael Hourigan yesterday confirmed his star chaser Dorans Pride will revert to hurdles and clash with the prolific Limestone Lad at Navan on Sunday.
The pair will meet in the Proudstown Hurdle over two and a half miles and Dorans Pride will receive almost two stone from Limestone Lad who is being kept ticking over before he again clashes with Istabraq in the AIG Irish Champion Hurdle in 17 days' time.
However, even with the weight concession Hourigan's first priority on Sunday is to restore Dorans Pride's confidence after that unsuccessful tilt at the King George.
'I feel it's important to get his confidence back in his jumping. He really clouted a fence at Kempton and pulled some muscles in his back but we fixed him up the next day and he's fine now. The weight he will get from Limestone Lad is really secondary to what we want to do,' Hourigan said.
The Co Limerick trainer also reported that his Paddy Power Chase winner, Inis Cara, will make a quick return to action in the Pierce Leopardstown Chase on Saturday and his son Paul will return to the plate instead of Robbie McNally.
'Inis Cara is fine. He'd practically no race in the Paddy Power. He won it well and Paul will ride him,' Hourigan added.
