He said: "He worked well this morning, but he's had several little problems this year and took quite a while to get over the illness that we had in the yard during the summer."
Meanwhile, one of the richest prizes in the Irish jumping calendar is in danger of cutting up badly unless rain arrives at Down Royal over the next few days.
Only eight horses have been entered for the James Nicholson Wine Merchant Champion Chase, and several of the main contenders are likely to be withdrawn unless the weather turns.
Noel Meade has already stated that his Gold Cup third Harbour Pilot is a very doubtful runner, while Michael Hourigan is also concerned about conditions for his stable star Beef Or Salmon.
Ferdy Murphy made a special visit to walk the Down Royal track today and is desperate to see further rain in order to allow his Gold Cup runnerup Truckers Tavern to take his chance.
He said: "It's still good to firm at the moment, but they've been putting plenty of water on. We're madly keen to run him if we possibly can."
