Storming George staying over hurdles after minor setback

Grade One-winning hurdler Storming George is set to stick to the smaller obstacles this season after a summer setback delayed his return to action.

Neil King’s six-year-old finished off his novice campaign on a high when striking at the top level at Aintree’s Grand National meeting in the spring, claiming the notable scalp of the Dan Skelton-trained Sinnatra, who made an impressive start to his career over fences at Ffos Las on Wednesday.

Storming George could well have been pursuing a novice chase campaign himself, but with King’s stable star now unlikely to return until December at the earliest, another season over hurdles beckons.

King said: “He’s not ready for a run yet, he had a setback just before he came back in from his grass holidays, so we’re behind schedule.

“He’s just started cantering away now and I’m not sure how long it will be before he’s out – six weeks, two months – I hope it will be this side of Christmas.

“We’re going to keep him over hurdles this year. Having had a delayed start to the season there’s no point going novice chasing, so we’ll stick to hurdles.

“It’s frustrating we’ve had a delayed start to the season, but as long as we come good now it will be fine.”