Roche baffled by Butterfly
Christy Roche has put plans for Like-A-Butterfly on hold after her flop in the Durkan New Homes Novice Chase at Leopardstown on Sunday.
The former Supreme Novices’ Hurdle heroine was sent off the 11-10 favourite to build on an impressive chasing debut which had put her at the head of the market for the Arkle Trophy next March.
However, the 10-year-old did not travel with her usual fluency and was eventually pulled up before the second-last fence.
“We examined her after the race – checked her over, scoped her – and we weren’t able to find any problems,” the trainer said yesterday.
“She has eaten up and everything seems right with her, so we are none the wiser, but it was just too bad to be true.
“We’ll have to do some more testing and we won’t be making any plans for her until we have found a reason for the bad run.”
