Gary Moore hopes Sire De Grugy will be shoo-in for Cheltenham repeat

Gary Moore revealed that his stable star must wear plastic shoes because of foot problems

Jamie Moore rides Sire De Grugy to a hugely popular victory in the Champion Chase (Getty Images)

Sire De Grugy will be sporting some eye-catching footwear as he defends his Queen Mother Champion Chase title at Cheltenham next week.

The nine-year-old has had his problems this term after what was an all-conquering 2013-14 campaign, which included his Cheltenham triumph among four Grade One successes.

However, Sire De Grugy recently landed a confidence-boosting success under a big weight in a Chepstow handicap, and yesterday trainer Gary Moore revealed that foot problems had necessitated a change to white plastic shoes rather than the usual metal racing plates.

He explained: “If you look at Sire De Grugy, he has plastic shoes on – we had them changed yesterday.

“He had a corn before he went to Newbury and it was touch and go whether I could run him or not. He was sound two days before the race. When he came back, we had to cut the corn out and because we had to cut so much out of the foot, he has to run in special shoes.

“He can be quite temperamental so we have to dope him to put the shoes on,” Moore added.

“They are a bit more pronounced than a normal shoe. They must be Gucci as they are quite expensive.”