Hopes rose yesterday that the injury Martha's Son suffered at Huntingdon may not be so bad as first feared. There had been worries that the 10-year-old might never run again after he was pulled up with a suspected crack in his near-fore in the Peterborough Chase on Tuesday. But X-rays have failed to find any bone damage and trainer Tim Forster said yesterday: "Everything is hopeful at this stage. Martha's Son is okay. He is still at the vet's at Huntingdon where he had a good, comfortable night.

"At the moment, they think he has just torn muscles very, very badly and it is very swollen and tender. "They didn't find any cracks on his X-rays. They said there is `cautious optimism that at some stage he will be fine' which means he could run again, although I haven't got a clue when."

Martha's Son has bounced back from injury in the past and was having only his second outing after an 18-month lay-off when he landed the Queen Mother Champion Chase at Cheltenham in March.

Forster also revealed that Dublin Flyer, seventh in the Murphy's Gold Cup at Cheltenham 11 days ago, will run in the Jacky Upton Handicap Chase at Newbury tomorrow.