Jonjo O'Neill has managed to secure the services of champion jockey Tony McCoy for stable star Legal Right In the Jim Ford Challenge Cup Chase at Wincanton on Thursday.
O'Neill said: "It is never easy to be able to book Tony so we are delighted to have him on our side.
"We didn't think he would be available but apparently Martin Pipe doesn't run Ashwell Boy in the Jim Ford so we stepped in."
It had been expected that the seven-year-old, winner of the Tripleprint Gold Cup at Cheltenham in December, would go straight to the Festival for the Cathcart Chase or possibly the Tote Cheltenham Gold Cup.
But O'Neill explained: "He'll go to Wincanton and we'll see how we get on from there - we're looking forward to it.
"Hopefully he'll then go to Cheltenham. He always needs a run or two to tune him in so I think it's better to give him a run rather than racecourse gallop him."
Legal Right has a history of injury problems and O'Neill added: "He's an amazing horse, he is a real cripple in the mornings.
"Some days he's worse than others and you couldn't gallop him. He does spend a lot of time in the pool and quite a lot of time in the solarium - whatever he needs he gets it.
"We were probably frightened to take a chance with him before but now we're just bashing away with him and it seems to be working - long may it last."
O'Neill's good conditional jockey Richard McGrath returned to work yesterday after more than two months on the sidelines with a serious kidney injury.
The Penrith trainer went on: "It was great to see Richard riding out again, he has come back quicker than we thought he would. But we don't want him to rush things, with an internal injury you never quite know but all the scans he has had taken have shown that everything seems to be fine.
"It will take him a bit of time to get fit for race riding again anyway and I think it will be about a month before he comes back."
McGrath said: "I rode out two lots this morning and it was no trouble at all. I was told at Carlisle hospital that the scans of the kidney were all right, but they will now be sent to Dr Michael Turner at the Jockey Club for him to give me the go-ahead.
"I think it will be about the middle of March when I get back. I have had no problem with my weight and will be doing 10st comfortably in my return."
McGrath split the top of his kidney following a fall from Water Font at Huntingdon on December 9th - two days before Legal Right's victory in the Tripleprint Gold Cup.
