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Flooring Porter injury blow for Gavin Cromwell

Flooring Porter Injury Blow for Gavin Cromwell

Cromwell's Flooring Porter ruled out of Cheltenham Festival due to injury

Leading contender for the Ballymore Novices' Hurdle set to miss the Festival after setback

Flooring Porter, one of the leading contenders for the Ballymore Novices' Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival, has been ruled out of the race due to injury.

The Gavin Cromwell-trained gelding suffered a setback in training last week and will now miss the Festival, which takes place from March 14-17.

Cromwell said: “It's very disappointing news. Flooring Porter is a very good horse and we were really looking forward to running him at Cheltenham.

“Unfortunately, he suffered a setback in training last week and we've had to rule him out of the Festival.

“We're not sure exactly what the injury is at the moment, but we're hoping to get him back in training as soon as possible.

“It's a blow to our Festival team, but we still have some other good horses in training and we're hoping for a successful week at Cheltenham.

Flooring Porter was one of the favorites for the Ballymore Novices' Hurdle, having won his last two races in impressive fashion.

The seven-year-old gelding won the Grade 1 Royal Bond Novice Hurdle at Fairyhouse in November, before following up with a victory in the Grade 2 Moscow Flyer Novice Hurdle at Punchestown in January.

Flooring Porter's absence from the Ballymore Novices' Hurdle will be a blow to Cromwell, who has enjoyed a successful season so far.

The County Meath trainer has already saddled four Grade 1 winners this season, including Honeysuckle in the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham last March.

Cromwell will still have a strong team of horses at the Festival, including Honeysuckle, who will be bidding for a third consecutive victory in the Champion Hurdle.

Other leading contenders for the Ballymore Novices' Hurdle include Appreciate It, Bob Olinger, and Sir Gerhard.