Charles Byrnes: 'Blazing Khal best I have but I haven't backed him for festival'

Charles Byrnes described Blazing Khal as the best horse in his yard but said he has not been tempted to take the 12-1 on offer for the Albert Bartlett Novices' Hurdle at Cheltenham, where the five-year-old will line up again on Saturday.

Blazing Khal's victory at the track last month was the highest-profile success for the trainer since he returned from a six-month suspension following the Viking Hoard case.

Byrnes was found to have been "seriously negligent" in regard to Viking Hoard at Tramore in October 2018, after the horse was found to have been administered with the sedative ACP while left alone in the stable yard for up to 25 minutes before being laid for significant sums on Betfair. There was no evidence linking Byrnes to the administration of the sedative or the lay bets, and he subsequently insisted: "I don't lay horses, I back horses."