RACING:Howard Johnson has given Inglis Drever the thumbs-up to return to light work following a successful X-ray on the hock injury he sustained in the Long Distance Hurdle at Newbury in November.
While a final decision on whether he will return to the racecourse is still some way off, Johnson is happy to start the 10-year-old back on the road to a possible return.
The three-time World Hurdle winner was on Tuesday given an entry in this year's renewal of the staying championship and Johnson is keeping his fingers crossed he can keep his star turn in one piece.
"The scan was very good and it has completely healed it so it's great news. We did a proper X-ray and there is nothing showing up," said Johnson.
"I'm going to put a set of shoes on him and we will just start walking him out for a fortnight.
"He won't be doing anything else other than going in a straight line - not on bumpy roads or anything like that - and we will just take it steady.
"If everything is fine we might give him a little canter in a fortnight to three weeks' time, just to see how it is.
"The vet took the fluid off the hock and all he got off it was 10 millimetres, which is nothing really.
"I told the vet to put a long-lasting cortisone injection into it and he has done that.
"We've nothing to lose if we just go slowly with him and we can make a decision on Cheltenham later on.
"What I want more than anything is for him to go back to Graham Wylie's a sound horse when he retires."