Stuart Edmunds targeting Festival repeat for Domesday Book

Domesday Book, winner of last season's Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup, is unlikely to return to action until the second half of the season after meeting with a setback.

Trainer Stuart Edmunds is eyeing a March reappearance for the seven-year-old after he sustained a tendon injury shortly after his Cheltenham Festival victory.

He said: "Domesday Book is good but he picked up a slight tendon injury. He is back in work and has been on the walker for the last few weeks, but we won't see him again until March."

He went on: "We will probably try to aim him at the same race he won at Cheltenham, then we might have a look at either the Grand National or the Irish National."

Edmunds has identified the Grade Two Mares' Novices' Hurdle Finale at Newbury in March as the long-term target for Maria's Benefit.

The five-year-old, who finished down the field in a Grade Two bumper at Aintree in April, gained her first win over hurdles at Newton Abbot on Friday.

He added: "We think Maria's Benefit is a very nice mare and she might go to Newbury for a mares' novice race in a few weeks.

"She has come out of that race at Newton Abbot fine. She had a really good blow after her first run over hurdles at Worcester and I was fairly conscious not to overdo her.

"We do like her a lot and at the end of the season we will probably try to go for the mares' novice finale at Newbury."