Sore Iris skips Welsh National

Iris De Balme has been ruled out of this afternoon’s Coral Welsh National at Chepstow after pulling out sore this morning.

The 2008 Scottish National hero has been off the track with injury since finishing fourth in last year’s bet365 Gold Cup, but his comeback has now been further delayed.

Trainer Sean Curran said: “He’s just sore and we thought he was too stiff to run.

“We’ll have to see what the physio says this afternoon before we know how long it will hold him up for, but hopefully it will only be four or five days.”