Sire De Grugy© Photo Healy Racing
Sire De Grugy will be sporting some eyecatching footwear as he defends his Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase title at Cheltenham next week.
The nine-year-old has had his problems this term after what was an all-conquering 2013/14 campaign, which included his Cheltenham triumph among four Grade One successes.
However, this season has not gone to plan with the Gary Moore-trained runner suffering a setback in the first half of the year before his belated return at Newbury last month saw him unseat jockey Jamie Moore at the third-last obstacle.
Sire De Grugy has since landed a confidence-boosting success under a big weight in a Chepstow handicap and Moore senior revealed that foot problems had necessitated a change to white plastic shoes rather than the usual metal racing plates.
He explained: "If you look at Sire De Grugy, he has plastic shoes on - we had them changed yesterday.
"He had a corn before he went to Newbury and it was touch and go whether I could run him or not. He was sound two days before the race. When he came back, we had to cut the corn out and because we had to cut so much out of the foot, he has to run in special shoes.
"He can be quite temperamental so we have to dope him to put shoes on - we had to do it yesterday evening so he is clear under Jockey Club (British Horseracing Authority) rules, we use eight days but you could sail close to the wind with six days.
"Normally, when you dope a horse, you have an hour to clip or shoe him but with Sire De Grugy it is only 45 minutes. He is just a character. You can shoe him in front without doping him, but not behind. It is quite unusual to see a racehorse with white shoes.
"The blacksmith is going to travel to Cheltenham with Sire De Grugy just in case. They are a bit more pronounced than a normal shoe. They must be Guccis as they are quite expensive!"
Sire De Grugy was wearing his new shoes when winning at Chepstow and Moore admitted the change had been a worry in the build-up to the race.
Speaking at a media day, he said: "He then ran in the plastic shoes at Chepstow - it was a different footing for him and a big worry as he only had them on the day before - but they did the job.
"A young blacksmith, Shane Francis, recommended them and he saved the day with us - we have got him interested in racing which is why he coming with the horse to the races.
"Shane just does Sire De Grugy; otherwise I use the blacksmith who worked with my Dad."
Moore believes Sire De Grugy could have been feeling his feet at Newbury, but reports his stable star to be firing on all cylinders again and expects him to mount a bold defence of his crown.
He said: "The corn could well have been bothering him at Newbury - I'd hate to think it was - it would have been like having a stone in your shoe.
"I was delighted with him at Chepstow, it was great to see him jump the third-last and come out of Jamie's hands and off he went. I thought 'you are back'. I am now confident about next week - they have got him to beat."
Despite the confidence in his charge, Moore knows that this year's field represents a much tougher test than last year on the face of it. Sprinter Sacre who destroyed all before him until suffering a heart problem last term, is back in the mix, while Dodging Bullets arrives as the form horse having won the Tingle Creek and the Clarence House Chase this season.
Moore added: "The race is more competitive than last year. I hope it is soft ground but good horses should go on any ground."
