Sprinter Sacre out of Festival

Sprinter Sacre will not defend his Queen Mother Champion Chase crown at Cheltenham next month.

The Nicky Henderson-trained two-mile king was sensationally pulled up at Kempton on December 27, where he was quickly diagnosed as suffering from an irregular heartbeat.

That problem righted itself, and he has been closely monitored since by equine specialist Celia Marr, steadily pleasing his team and with a racecourse gallop in the offing.