3 months ago
27
HUGE Cheltenham Festival favourite Theleme is OUT – after suffering a setback.
The former Stayers’ Hurdle market leader, who boasts impeccable form in France, rocketed to 16 on the Betfair Exchange before official word came he was gone.
One for the home team in the French Champion Hurdle!
Theleme gets the better of Hermes Baie to win at Auteuil for Gaetan Masure and Arnaud Chaille-Chaille – Klassical Dream in third… pic.twitter.com/XKHPP9HMAM
And there was a sea of red next to his name on Oddschecker, with Paddy Power and Betfair pushing him out to 12-1 from around 4-1 as rumours spread.
Racing manager Bertrand Le Matayer confirmed the bad news, telling Sun Racing: “He had a little issue and won’t be ready for Cheltenham, the new plan is Auteuil in May.
“We hope to go for the Stayers’ Hurdle next year.”
It means punters who have already backed the horse are onto a loser seven weeks before the Festival if they didn’t go non-runner, no bet.
Gordon Elliott’s pair Teahupoo and Irish Point are now the two at the top of the market.
Teahupoo – third in the race last year – is marginally fav at 7-2 while Irish Point, also owned by Robcour, is 4-1.
Of the £68,000 matched on the Stayers’ Hurdle, some £17,886 was on Theleme.
The French raider is trained by Arnaud Chaille-Chaille and recently bagged his fifth Grade 1 in November.
Sun Racing just last week caught up with connections of the superstar horse.
Theleme is owned by the family of late Leeds-based businessman Jim Gordon.
Le Matayer, racing manager to the Gordons, confirmed then Cheltenham was ‘very much the plan’.
He said: “We gave him a break after his latest Grade 1 win and he looks fabulous, but there aren’t many good options for a prep so we will give him a run on the Flat first.
“We’ll give him a nice blow there, jump him over some English hurdles and then take him to Cheltenham.”
But sadly they will now miss out ahead of the horse’s intended prep run on the Flat.
FREE BETS – GET THE BEST SIGN UP DEALS AND RACING OFFERS
Commercial content notice: Taking one of the bookmaker offers featured in this article may result in a payment to The Sun. 18+. T&Cs apply. Begambleaware.org
Remember to gamble responsibly
A responsible gambler is someone who:
- Establishes time and monetary limits before playing
- Only gambles with money they can afford to lose
- Never chases their losses
- Doesn’t gamble if they’re upset, angry or depressed
- Gamcare – www.gamcare.org.uk
- Gamble Aware – www.begambleaware.org
Bengali (BD) · 
English (US) ·