Long Run to miss Aintree

Long Run will sidestep a possible run at Aintree next week and head off on his summer break.

Nicky Henderson had been considering a crack at the Betfair Bowl with the Gold Cup and King George winner but following his exploits at Cheltenham and Kempton, the trainer and owner Robert Waley-Cohen have decided to draw stumps for the season.

“We have decided not to go to Aintree with Long Run,” he said.

“I had a long chat with Robert this morning and between us and all the team here, we just feel it best not to go to Aintree.

“He’s fine in himself, there’s nothing wrong with the horse, we just feel that he, like all the others, had a hard race at Cheltenham and while he came out of it in good form, we have decided against running at Aintree.

“He is only six, he’s got his whole life ahead of him and we want to look after him. There’s only 20 days between Cheltenham and Aintree this year and there’s no getting away from the fact the Gold Cup is as tough as it gets.

“It’s nothing to do with the ground at Aintree, I would have absolutely no worries about that at all as they do an excellent job there and I know the ground would have been fine.

“He’s just done everything we’ve asked of him this year and everyone here is sure it is the right decision.”

While Long Run will not be seen on the racecourse again this term, he will be in attendance at Henderson’s open day on Good Friday.

He added: “Long Run will stay here until the open day and then we will rough him off and he will go home to Robert for the summer and have a nice break.

“We will probably start looking at the Haydock race (Betfair Chase) before the King George and then hopefully the Gold Cup again.”