Lord Sam to miss Royal & SunAlliance Chase

Leading Royal & SunAlliance Chase contender Lord Sam will miss today’s race at the Cheltenham Festival.

The Victor Dartnall-trained eight-year-old, winner of all three of his outings over fences, was expected to give favourite Our Vic most to do this afternoon.

But Dartnall said: “He was off his grub this morning, so we ran a few tests on him, including a blood test and he is running a slight temperature.

“It’s desperate for everyone at the yard but I suppose it is better he doesn’t run than he comes last and finishes distressed.

“Logically, Aintree must be the next target if I can get him right again in time.

“I can’t believe our bad luck – this kind of thing has never happened before with him and hopefully will never happen again.”