Diamond Harry on the mend

Diamond Harry is recuperating at trainer Nick Williams' stable in Devon following a second wind operation.

Paul Duffy, who heads the syndicate that owns the 2010 Hennessy Gold Cup winner, believes it will be at least two months before the ten-year-old has that all-important first race back.

Diamond Harry, who fell in this season's renewal of the Hennessy at Newbury on his latest start, underwent the operation at Bristol University.

"Time will tell. He's back with Nick after his second op. Hopefully that will put him right but we won't know until he gets back into training and actually has a race," said Duffy.

"He's got to be given six weeks or a couple of months before we even consider putting him in a race.

"We've just got to take each week at a time and see how he goes.

That's all we can do. You wouldn't expect him to run after a breathing op for at least a couple of months. That would be optimistic in his case.

"It's the last throw of the dice really. He owes us nothing.

"He hasn't got that many miles on the clock and it's worth having a go and see.

"He went to Bristol University. They put him on the treadmill and analysed everything. They thought it worthwhile to have another go.

"We'll see how it goes and the most important thing is the next race and he sees it through. We will try to find a nice race for him and see if he comes through it OK."