Kala cooking on gas
Ferdy Murphy expressed delight after Kalahari King worked on Tuesday morning ahead of his eagerly-awaited reappearance in the Blue Square Handicap Chase at Doncaster on Saturday week.
Last year’s Arkle runner-up has yet to step onto a racecourse this season as he aims for a crack at the Queen Mother Champion Chase.
Having been held up more than most by the cold weather, Murphy had been in doubt whether he would make the race on Town Moor.
But it is all systems go again after Graham Lee came back with positive news.
“Graham rode him this morning in a piece of work and he was delighted with him,” said Murphy.
“He’d ridden him last week and thought he might not get to Doncaster on February 6 but, at this moment, we probably will.
“He had a lot of trips to Redcar beach and we got plenty of cantering into him but of course that was only endurance work and he needed a bit of fast work.
“I wouldn’t say he disappointed us last week but he was very stuffy in his work, but this morning he worked really well. He worked with a good horse and pulled right away from him.
“When Graham came back with a big smile on his face I knew everything was all right,” he told At The Races.
