Leading owner Rich Ricci has not given up hope of Douvan returning to competitive action before the end of the season.

The Willie Mullins-trained superstar sustained a pelvic injury when suffering a shock defeat in the Queen Mother Champion Chase at Cheltenham last March.

He had been set to reappear in the Tingle Creek Chase at Sandown in early December but was not declared, with Mullins reporting he had not been totally happy with him in the days before the race, opting instead to wait for a possible run at Leopardstown over Christmas.

He subsequently ruled him out for the entire campaign, but a serious problem has still not been identified.

Ricci told talkSPORT2: "Douvan is a real head-scratcher. We're still not entirely convinced we know what's wrong with him because he's absolutely fine. As Willie said the other day, we are waiting for a final follow-up report from France to see what we need to do.

"At the moment he's doing plenty of walking and we'll have to see what happens. He deserves a chance to do himself justice. I'd love to have him back.

"I'm hoping we could get a run into him this season, but we'll just have to see what the vets say and make a plan."

Douvan is not being quoted by any of the major betting companies for the Queen Mother Champion Chase at Cheltenham, the entries for which are due out next week.

The owner is looking to bounce back after a disappointing Christmas for his Willie Mullins-trained runners.

Min's demotion having passed the post first in last week's Paddy's Rewards Club Chase was one of several frustrating results for the leading owner over the festive period.

Dual Cheltenham Gold Cup runner-up Djakadam was pulled up in the Christmas Chase, as was Faugheen in the Ryanair Hurdle.

Sharjah looked set to land the Future Champions Novice Hurdle until crashing out at the final flight.

Ricci told talkSPORT2: "Maybe the John Durkan took more out of Djakadam and Sizing John than we thought it had. Maybe he was just feeling the effects of that. Other than that he's absolutely fine. Our plan is still to go to the Gold Cup.

"Sharjah was excellent, but, unfortunately, he jumped that shadow at the last. He'll come back for the champion novice hurdle (Deloitte Novice Hurdle) at the Dublin Racing Festival."

Ricci's only winner over the course of the four days at Leopardstown was Let's Dance in Friday's Grade 3 mares' hurdle.

He added: "I thought Let's Dance was very good and she could go for the Mares' Hurdle or the Stayers' Hurdle (at Cheltenham)."

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