Former Gold Cup winner 'ahead of schedule' for Punchestown return

Sara Bradstock issued a positive update on Coneygree on Saturday, stating that the 2015 Gold Cup winner was ahead of schedule for his planned return to action at the Punchestown festival in two months time.

The ten-year-old, who for three more weeks at least remains the last novice to win the Cheltenham showpiece, has not been seen since defeated by Cue Card in the Betfair Chase, having been ruled out of the King George and Timico Cheltenham Gold Cup after getting jarred up.

Bradstock, wife of trainer Mark, said: "He's all good, it's all very satisfactory. Punchestown is still the plan. We're all on track, in fact we're slightly in front of ourselves.

"He's swimming, going on the water treadmill and trotting for miles. He's just passed his latest x-ray with flying colours. In a couple of weeks we'll x-ray again and we're hoping it'll look good enough to start cantering."