Grand mare Snow Fairy is due to begin cantering next week in anticipation of a return to the track during the second half of the season.

Ed Dunlop's exceptional mare has not been seen since winning the Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown last September, when she held of Nathaniel by a length-and-a-quarter in one of the races of the season.

Snow Fairy was then due to contest the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp in October but was a late withdrawal after heat was found in one of her legs.

The six-year-old will slowly move through the gears during the spring and could once again be set to cross the Channel for the Prix Jean Romanet at Deauville in August.

Snow Fairy claimed the Group One race last year but was subsequently disqualified after testing positive for a banned anti-inflammatory medication.

"She returns to me next week and is ready to start cantering," Dunlop said.

"Obviously it will be a second-half-of-the-season campaign, if all goes well.

"Ideally, I'd like to go back to France."