ALLAHO, the hot favourite to win a third Ryanair Chase, has been ruled OUT of the Cheltenham Festival.
Trainer Willie Mullins revealed the shocking news to the dismay of punters – many of whom considered the horse a banker for the meeting in March.
Allaho was a hugely impressive winner of the Ryanair in both 2021 and 2022, but missed the chance to land a hat-trick last year after missing the season after suffering a problem with his spleen.
The 10-year-old has been in good form since returning to action this winter, winning on his reappearance at Clonmel before finishing a close third in the King George on Boxing Day.
And on Sunday, he was an easy winner of the Horse and Jockey Hotel Chase at Thurles.
But he was found to have strained muscles during that Grade 2 victory, and Mullins says he hasn’t recovered as quickly as hoped.
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He told sportinglife.com: “Unfortunately Allaho will miss Cheltenham this year.
“He came back with a hind leg strain from Thurles and we gave it a few days to come right and it hasn’t.
“There isn’t enough time to get him ready for Cheltenham and unfortunately we’ve had to pull the plug.
“We’ll get over this hurdle first before we see if we can get him back for Punchestown.”
The news has led to a significant shake-up in the antepost betting for the Ryanair Chase in March.
Banbridge is now the clear 11-4 favourite with Paddy Power and Betfair, with Envoi Allen next best at 4-1 ahead of Stage Star at 9-2.
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