Florida Pearl will not after all make his eagerly awaited drop back to the minimum trip this weekend following a training setback.
Willie Mullins reports that his star chaser `scoped with a bit of mucus yesterday morning and will be taking it easy for the next 8 to 10 days.`
`There is no point in working him hard at the moment, and hopefully he will go next for the Hennessy at Leopardstown (Feb 9) or the Ritz Club Chase at Ascot the following weekend.`
`I`m disappointed to miss this weekend because if he`s going to run in the Queen Mother Champion Chase at Cheltenham then he`ll have to jump and race with the top two milers at that pace,` added Mullins.
However the Carlow trainer is still leaning towards another attempt at the Gold Cup saying, `This year is probably his last competitive chance to win the Gold Cup, and that is still the race both myself and the owners want to win.`
