Dato Star on wane

Racing

Mysilv consolidated his claims for the Champion Hurdle on 12 March with an easy 10-length win from Soloman's Dancer at Haydock yesterday. Charlie Egerton, her trainer, said the mare wanted soft ground at Cheltenham.

But Festival ambitions for Dato Star, the second-favourite in yesterday's race, looked in tatters. "That was the worst thing that could have happened,'' trainer Malcolm Jefferson said after his five-year-old's fall.

"He pinged the hurdle but just knuckled and was gone. We will have to see how he is in the morning - he was sound when we walked him away - before deciding whether to go to Cheltenham. There isn't time for an other race now.''