Scratchings were made for the Grade 1 hurdles and all novice contests at the Cheltenham Festival on Tuesday.
The headlines among the withdrawals belonged to Nicky Henderson‘s Seven Barrows team. They placed faith in their novice Old Park Star to lead the line alone in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle.
Henderson’s charge rocketed to the top of the Supreme betting when winning by 18 lengths at Haydock last time out. He met some talented opposition in the Rossington Main Novices’ Hurdle but steamrolled his rivals from the front.
“Old Park Star was very, very good…He got them well strung out and nothing could get anywhere near him,” said Henderson, reports The Sun.
That Grade 2 triumph ensured he remained unbeaten under rules after three runs over hurdles. He now heads for the opening race of the Cheltenham Festival, which Henderson has won on three occasions. His trio of winners, Altior, Shishkin and Constitution Hill, all went on to have stellar careers in National Hunt racing.
Henderson also down to one in Turners
While Old Park Star is his sole representative in the Supreme, Henderson relies on just one horse in the Turners Novices’ Hurdle too. That horse is Act Of Innocence, who won at Huntingdon recently.
That victory came in the Listed Sidney Banks Novices’ Hurdle, and got the six-year-old back on track. He had previously been beaten at odds-on at Newbury, but hopes have been renewed for a possible novice double for Seven Barrows.
Henderson further gutted his team for some of the championship contests. Sir Gino was ruled out of the Cheltenham Festival with a pelvic injury and no longer has his Champion Hurdle entry. In the Stayers’ Hurdle, Iberico Lord has been withdrawn by Henderson, though further big names will now be absent from those contests.
In the Champion Hurdle, Willie Mullins has scratched multiple Grade 1-winning chaser El Fabiolo. The nine-year-old won back over hurdles in December, but failed to impress in the Irish Champion Hurdle at Leopardstown. Kerry Lee has also withdrawn Nemean Lion from the Tuesday showpiece.
In the Stayers’, a raft of scratches were made. Last season’s Graded scorers Hiddenvalley Lake and Strong Leader were removed by Henry De Bromhead and Olly Murphy respectively. Ahoy Senor and Mystical Power will also miss Cheltenham.
Other significant novices set to skip the Festival belong, unsurprisingly to Willie Mullins’ yard. The Closutton master releaved Jimmy Du Seuil of his Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase engagement, while the promising novice hurdler You Proof, who had been entered in the Supreme, Turners and Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdles, has been scratched from all three.