Big Buck’s and Al Ferof wave a premature goodbye to the season
After losing the Hennessy Gold Cup and the Tingle Creek to the arch rival, Nicky Henderson, Paul Nicholls finally landed the StanJames.com International Hurdle with, Zarkandar. Just when the champion trainer was making all the effort for stamping his greatness in the season, he lost Cristal Bonus due to a fatal injury in the same race that was won by the stable mate, Zarkandar.
The trainer was not really done digesting this loss when the news of two of his most accomplished trainees broke through. Paul Nicholls will no longer be able to race Big Buck’s and Al Ferof for the rest of the season. Both the stable mates were the prospects for two very important upcoming challenges.
Big Buck’s will now miss the Saturday’s Long Walk Hurdle at Ascot while Al Ferof will no longer be able to represent Paul Nicholls in the King George VI Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day.
Nicholls told Betfair: "At evening stables, we discovered a problem with both Big Buck's and Al Ferof. I am not in a position to go into great detail at this point, but I can confirm that Big Buck's will not be taking up his engagement at Ascot on Saturday and Al Ferof will not be running in the King George."
"I`m a little bit gutted, but no-one has died and the horse is perfectly well. When the horses come back in at the end of July we shall reassess the situation. If he hasn`t got that zest and sparkle, he will be retired."
Paul Nicholls has won the King George VI Chase five times with, Kauto Star, now retired and set for embarking the dressage career. He will now have to dig deep for the competition will be against Nicky Henderson trained, Long Run.
Running the horses and then losing the race due to the unrevealed injuries would have been disastrous for the connections. The unforeseen gaps in the performances would have impacted the betting trends in the rest of the outings adversely.
Big Buck’s will now not be able to strike a straight nineteenth success before the new season begins. If trainer, Paul Nicholls, will be able to find suitable representation for both the races or not will unfold soon.
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