Coral Welsh National favourite Ask Me Early took a heavy schooling on Wednesday and will be monitored in the coming days to ensure he is unscathed.

Having won both his races over hurdles this season the grey found himself leading the market for the marathon on December 27.

However, he came down heavily when having a routine schooling session and jockey Sean Bowen needed to be checked over in hospital – giving up his rides at Newbury as a result.

“As Ask Me Early is favourite for the Coral Welsh National I wanted to let people know that he took a heavy fall with Sean Bowen while schooling over our fences this morning,” Fry told www.harryfryracing.com.

“It was a big relief to see horse and rider get to their feet afterwards. Sean is a bit stiff and sore, so after being checked over at Yeovil hospital Sean decided to miss his rides at Newbury. Hopefully he will be back in a few days.

“It was a shock to see Ask Me Early come down because normally he is the best of jumpers. He seems ok but it is too early to say if he escaped unscathed so we will be monitoring him in the days ahead.”