One of the leading fancies for the Cheltenham Gold Cup next March, the Paul Nicholls trained 'Topofthegame' - will miss the race because of a leg injury.
'Topofthegame' was an impressive winner of the RSA Novices' Chase at the Festival this year. The seven-year-old beat good yardsticks in 'Santini' and 'Delta Work' in winning the three mile test, travelling and jumping beautifully before staying on well up the hill.
'Topofthegame' then went to Aintree, finishing second behind 'Lostintranslation'.
The injury is believed to be a minor one, but connections don't want to risk further complications with such a talented animal in their stable.
Nicholls told Betfair:
"While the problem is not serious it is enough to make us stop with him at this stage and give him plenty of time to recover.
"It’s frustrating because he’d done so well over the summer and has been cantering away nicely at home ahead of a crack at the Ladbrokes Trophy. Hopefully he will be back in training again next season when his long term target will again be the Gold Cup."
The current ante-post favourite for the 2020 Gold Cup at Cheltenham is the Willie Mullins trained 'Kemboy', who heads the market ahead of another Mullins charge, this year's winner 'Al Boum Photo'.
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