Triumph Hurdle favourite Sir Gino ruled out of Cheltenham by Nicky Henderson
Trainer Nicky Henderson (centre) with horses Shiskin (left) and Sir Gino during a visit to Nicky Henderson's yard at Seven Barrows. Pic: David Davies/PA Wire.
A torrid Cheltenham Festival for Nicky Henderson continued on Thursday as Triumph Hurdle favourite Sir Gino was ruled out of the opening race on Gold Cup day.
Henderson has also taken Shanagh Bob out of the Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle with both reasons on the BHA racing admin site given to the stable being under a cloud.
In a statement on X, Henderson said: "Very sadly we have had to make a very tough decision which is not to run Sir Gino in the Triumph Hurdle tomorrow and the same applies to Shanagh Bob in the Albert Bartlett.
"Both horses appear to be in great shape but we cannot ignore the performance of all our horses throughout this week and indeed last week as well and we feel it would be crazy to chance it with two very high class young horses with their lives in front of them.
"Joe Donnelly who owns both of these as well as Shishkin has been incredibly supportive as have all our owners as well as the media and indeed racing as a whole, and we appreciate that enormously.
"We are very much looking forward to hopefully Aintree and Punchestown as soon as we get the team back to normal."
Meanwhile, a late setback has ruled Dysart Enos out of Thursday’s Ryanair Mares' Novices' Hurdle.
Fergal O'Brien's star mare has won each of her six starts to date, with three bumper triumphs last season followed by a hat-trick of victories over hurdles this term.
The six-year-old was Britain's biggest hope in Thursday's penultimate event against two unbeaten Irish raiders in Gordon Elliott's Brighterdaysahead and the Willie Mullins-trained Jade De Grugy, but she was declared a non-runner on the morning of the race.
Read More
O'Brien said: “It's a huge blow, she's got an overreach unfortunately.
“It's not serious, it's just horrendous timing. If it had happened earlier we might have been able to do something about it, but that's where we are.
“We'll get her right before we make any plans.”
