Gary Moore blog: Life’s a beach for Sire De Grugy

Betway Champion Chase hope warms up for next week’s race with visit to the seaside

Gary Moore

“We decided to take Sire De Grugy and the rest of my Cheltenham runners to West Wittering beach this morning as part of their final preparation for next week.

“It’s something I like to do when a big race is coming up, so we thought we would do it again as it didn’t do us any harm 12 months ago.  He travelled first thing this morning and stretched his legs on an empty beach with the other runners.

“Jamie [Moore] led them all down to the shallows on Sire De Grugy and they broke into a gentle trot.  It’s a real treat for the horses as it gives them another interest.  It’s a chance for them to think about other things rather than racing. Jamie said he loved every minute of it and just couldn’t take his eyes off the sea, he was mesmerised by it all.

“We’ve less than a week to go until the Betway Champion Chase now and the plan is to school him tomorrow morning, work him again on Saturday morning and then that’ll be it.”