Quito De La Roque Out

With the scratching deadlines coming thick and fast for the 2012 Cheltenham Festival, Quito De La Roque was the only major Gold Cup contender to bow out last Wednesday. Generally 20/1 for the Gold Cup, he was withdrawn due to minor illness.

His trainer Colm Murphy said “Quito De La Roque has quite a bad sinus problem and is on anitbiotics to clear it up. It has meant we have had to stop with him and he won’t be going to Cheltenham. He will hopefully be able to go to Aintree or Punchestown.”

That now leaves 26 hopefuls to line up on the day including defending champion Long Run and two-time winner Kauto Star. Along with them, Junior, Apt Approach, Weird Al and Burton Port are all still in – I only mention them as they are also due to run in the 2012 John Smiths Grand National and with only four weeks between the races, it’s unlikely that they will all run in both, hence the longer odds.

In fact 10 of the Cheltenham Gold Cup entries are all scheduled for the Grand National so it’ll come down to the scratchings for that race and serious consideration on the part of the trainers to determine which race their charge will run in.