Ante-post National Hunt Chase favourite The Wallpark will not run at the 2026 Cheltenham Festival.
The eight-year-old was third in the Grade 1 Stayers’ Hurdle last season. That marked the conclusion of a successful campaign during which he was purchased by JP McManus.
Chasing has not come as naturally to him, however. He won four in a row over hurdles last season, but started this campaign with four heavy defeats.
Stepped back up to his best trip of 3m, there was improvement from him at Navan last time. He was second in a Grade 2 novice chase there to seemingly signal a handicap run at Cheltenham.
Connections will instead aim him at domestic prizes as he did not feature in any handicap entries. He had been favourite for the Kim Muir Challenge Cup as well as the National Hunt Chase.
“He was never going over” – Frank Berry
Despite there being confidence in The Wallpark for Cheltenham from punters, connections always believed otherwise.
Frank Berry, owner JP McManus’s racing manager, confirmed that his ferry was never likely to be booked.
“No, he was never going over,” Berry said to the Racing Post. “Everything is fine with him. There’s no real plan at the moment, but he’ll run somewhere at home.”
Options for Gordon Elliott’s stayer could include an entry in the Irish Grand National. That marathon handicap is one of a number of domestic prizes open to The Wallpark once a plan becomes clear.
Myretown being prepped for Ultima
The headline elsewhere in the Cheltenham handicap entries was the presence of Myretown for the Ultima Handicap Chase.
Myretown won very impressively at the Festival last season, but plans have gone awry this term. He was pulled up when contesting the Grand National Trial at Haydock most recently.
Michael Sucdamore, who trains the nine-year-old with Lucinda Russell, confirmed the updated plans for next month.
“Derek got off at Haydock and said he just didn’t stay, and that probably is the case,” Scudamore said to the Press Association via Racing TV.
“With the way the ratings fall I couldn’t see him getting a National run off the back of that.
“All being well we’ll now head back to Cheltenham for the Ultima instead.”
The Gold Cup had also been mooted as a possibility due to his performance last season. He retains an entry in that race, but handicapping appears to be the predominant thought for the time being.