Milton Harris has high hopes for Scriptwriter

Trainer back on the mend after recent health scare.

Milton Harris insists that unbeaten hurdler Scriptwriter is “better than Knight Salute” who won six of his seven outings as a juvenile – including at Grade One level.

The former Aidan O’Brien trainee has won both outings over hurdles and was due to line up in the bet365 Summit Juvenile Hurdle at Doncaster on Saturday, only for the card to be abandoned due to frozen ground.

The Warminster handler was back on a racecourse for the first time at Cheltenham on Friday having recently flown back from Thailand, where he had been hospitalised upon arrival and placed in intensive care with a pulmonary embolism.

On Saturday morning, Harris spoke of his short golfing break which turned into a nightmare.

“I’m fine. I feel a bit knocked about, but I’m fine,” he said.

“I landed there and my lungs filled up with blood. It was touch and go for a couple of days, but listen, I take a bit of killing!

“I was in hospital after about three hours of arriving. It took 11 and a half hours to get there. I was in hospital for eight days. I’m not sure what caused it. Bad luck, I suppose.”

Harris still hopes to send the Mark and Maria Adams-owned Scriptwriter to Doncaster for the race Knight Salute won last term, should the BHA approve the course’s plea to switch the Summit Hurdle to its next scheduled meeting.

“I was a bit annoyed about Scriptwriter, as I was keen to see him,” added Harris. “There will be other days.

“They may possibly reschedule at Doncaster on December 29th. But I’m happy with him. He’s a good horse – he is better than Knight Salute, anyway.

“They are different horses, but he is a good horse.”

However, smart mare Mullenbeg, whose bid to complete a four-timer over hurdles ended when finishing sixth to Punctuation in the Catesby Estates Handicap Hurdle at Cheltenham on Friday, may be on the easy list for a time.

Harris said: “It was good to be back and on course yesterday. We didn’t get a winner but the horses are fine, all except Mullenbeg, who was lame yesterday after the race. We think it is superficial. She is okay. We’ll see how she is in a day or two before thinking about making any plans for her.”

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