Planet Of Sound Likely Out of Gold Cup
- By A.J. Ryder on March 9, 2011 17:35 GMT
The 2011 Cheltenham Gold Cup is now down to a short field of contenders with more than a week to go before the de facto world championships of steeplechasing. Philip Hobbs has confirmed that Planet Of Sound is unlikely to line up at the festival at all thanks to an infection in his hind leg.
While not ruling him out entirely (Planet Of Sound remains declared), Hobbs declared that a tilt at the Gold Cup was “pretty unlikely”.
Speaking to the Racing Post, Hobbs went on to explain, “yesterday he could hardly put his foot on the ground. Today he could put a bit fo weight on it… I am 95 per cent certain he won’t get there.”
Planet Of Sound had been as short as 28/1 for Gold Cup glory and he had run against a number of his rivals throughout his two races in the 2010/11 season. He managed a third-place finish to Imperial Commander in the Betfair Chase at Haydock and then a disappointing fifth to Long Run in the King George VI. He had a disappointing trip to the festival last year, running a tame eleventh to Albertas Run in the Ryanair Chase.
In other Gold Cup news, Diamond Harry was officially scratched from the race on Wednesday.
