Blazing Khal’s Cheltenham bid in the balance

Staying hurdler still ‘three or four weeks’ away from returning.

Charles Byrnes concedes he is in a race against time to get Blazing Khal fit for the Paddy Power Stayers’ Hurdle at Cheltenham.

The six-year-old won all of his three hurdle races last season, with his last two coming at Cheltenham.

Stepped up to three miles, he was an impressive winner of the Grade Two Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle at the Prestbury Park track last December, comfortably beating the Paul Nicholls-trained Gelino Bello for a second time.

However, he suffered a setback soon after and has still to make his belated return, although he is a general 6-1 second-favourite behind Flooring Porter for the three-mile showpiece on March 16.

The Ballingary handler, who won the Stayers’ Hurdle with Solwhit in 2013, said: “We’re not having a great run with Blazing Khal.

“It will be another three or four weeks before he’s out again, I’d say. Cheltenham is looking a small bit dodgy now.

“He needs to be out and running at Christmas really, to be realistically running at Cheltenham.

“We haven’t given up yet, but we are running a bit short of time for the Stayers’.”

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