Old Guard ruled out of Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham

Old Guard will miss tomorrow’s Stan James Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham after failing to recover from a minor setback in time.

Paul Nicholls was disappointed with his charge’s work on Saturday and the five-year-old was reported to be sore yesterday morning.

The Ditcheat handler had intended to wait until this morning before making a final call on Old Guard’s participation, but he opted to withdraw him from the race on last night, with attention now focussed on trying to get the son of Notnowcato fit for Aintree next month.