Inglis Drever, one of the captivating treasures of recent years, returned home to Co Durham yesterday with Howard Johnson, his trainer, content to delay any decision on retirement. The triple champion of three-mile hurdling pulled up lame at Newbury on Saturday but Johnson wants to monitor his condition before plans are confirmed.

“It would be silly to retire him now before we've had the chance to assess him,” Johnson explained. “The vets at Newbury are pleased with him. He's been given an injection and they've told me he's fit to travel, so we'll get our own people to look at him tomorrow and maybe get him scanned again up here, too.

“If he was a younger horse, you maybe wouldn't worry too much about an injury like this. I said to Alan Shearer this morning, it was like a footballer missing a beat and just twisting on his Achilles. So I'll want a week or two before we decide whether to stop with him.”

Johnson had firmer views on the possible resscheduling of the Fighting Fifth Hurdle, lost to frost at Newcastle on Saturday. “They should put it on at Wetherby next Saturday rather than moving it down south - we poor northerners don't have enough high-profile races as it is,” he said.

As the first leg of the £1 million hurdling bonus sponsored by WBX, the race should certainly be saved and a decision is likely from the British Horseracing Authority today. Likelier venues, though, are Chepstow - owned, like Newcastle, by Northern Racing - or Sandown Park.