Beef Or Salmon continued his preparation for next week's Cheltenham Gold Cup with a final piece of work this morning.
Michael Hourigan's charge scoped badly when second to Rule Supreme in the Hennessy Gold Cup at Leopardstown last month and was found to be suffering from an upper respiratory tract infection afterwards.
All is well now, however, and a delighted Hourigan said: "He worked well on the racecourse this morning, and scoped clean, so everything is fine. I imagine that will be his last real piece of work before next week."
Beef Or Salmon beat Best Mate in the Lexus Chase at Christmas but a rematch is not on the cards after yesterday's news that his rival misses the Gold Cup after breaking a blood vessel.
Hourigan was full of sympathy for Best Mate's connections.
"It was a hell of a shock for me, and it just goes to show how much pressure we are under to get the horses ready," he said.