RSA Chase contender Last Instalment has been ruled out of the Cheltenham Festival after he was injured at Leopardstown on Sunday.
The Irish raider will miss the rest of the season after suffering an injury during his latest Grade One victory and ante post punters who have backed him into short prices will be left shocked by the news.
The Gigginstown House Stud seven-year-old damaged his tendons when he landed the Dr PJ Moriarty Novice Chase and trainer Philip Fentone explained: "He's jarred both tendons I'm afraid as is on the easy list. He won't run again before the end of the season, but will hopefully be back next year."
The news caused bookmakers to cut First Lieutenant and Sir Des Champs for the RSA Chase, but it was more bad news for Gigginstown after Quito De La Roque was recently ruled out of the Betfred Gold Cup.
In other news, Simonsig is the new favourite for the Supreme Novices' Hurdle after cruising to victory in the Morebattle Hurdle at Kelso and Stan James spokesman Rory Jiwani explained to Cheltenhampro, "Barry Geraghty had an armchair ride on Simonsig but the six-year-old made a couple of errors late on which took the shine off an otherwise impressive performance. He won't be able to make those sort of mistakes in the Supreme, and we're prepared to go top price about him in what looks like a wide-open heat. He's 7/1 from 8/1 in our book.