Thistelcrack To Miss Cheltenham Festival With More Injury Woes

Cheltenham festival winner Thistlecrack is set to spend some more time on the sidelines which will see him miss another chance to go to Prestbury Park in March.

The veteran who is now a 12 year old won the Grade One Stayers Hurdle back in 2016 and later on in that year went on to land the King George VI Chase at Kempton whilst still a novice over the bigger obstacles.

Many were eagerly awaiting the Stayers Hurdle entries at this declaration stage and with 40 horses still left in the contest there was one big name missing and it was Thistlecrack.

The Colin Tizzard trained superstar has had a career blighted by injuries and although the experienced veteran has not won since his superb King George VI win in 2016 his trainer believes that by missing Cheltenham he should still be able to race again this term.

(Credit Racing Post) He said: “Thistlecrack isn’t quite right at the moment. The problem we had just before Christmas hasn’t corrected itself yet and he’s still not sound so we are just going to hang fire for a while. 

“We thought it was an abscess, but it might be a bit more than that. I’m not going to say he won’t run again because he might. I’m still hoping to get him back this season.”