Fingal Bay finished for season

Philip Hobbs has decided to put Fingal Bay away for the season and not send him to Punchestown for the Cathal Ryan Memorial Champion Novice Hurdle on Friday.

The six-year-old, who was forced to miss the Cheltenham Festival, suffered his first defeat when second to Lovcen in the John Smith’s Sefton Novices’ Hurdle at Aintree.

“It was disappointing to get beat for the first time and we’ve decided not to run him again,” the Minehead trainer told At The Races.

“He had a pretty hard race at Aintree, although he’s fine and he’ll be going novice chasing next season.

“He hasn’t schooled over a fence yet. He was a bit tired after Aintree. We could nearly have schooled him this week, but we’ll do that in the autumn.”