Riverside Theatre Out of Ryanair Chase
- By A.J. Ryder on March 8, 2011 16:31 GMT
A hairline fracture has ruled prominent contender Riverside Theatre out of the running for the 2011 Cheltenham Festival. Popular conditioner Nicky Henderson spoke to Racingpost.com and revealed that the Ryanair Chase second favourite would be pulled off the Cheltenham trail.
The move will certainly be a blow to ante post punters who were strongly backing the King George VI runner-up.
A seven year-old son of King’s Theatre, Riverside Theatre had made a major statement about his Cheltenham intentions less than a month ago when he conquered the Grade 1 Betfair Ascot Chase over a talented field of seven.
A second-year chaser, Riverside Theatre has amassed nearly £200,000 during his three year career. In an interview, Henderson was disappointed to pull Riverside Theatre from the Cheltenham Festival, but he was also quick to play down concerns that his career was in jeopardy. “Riverside has had a fantastic season and his preparation for the festival was going really well… We are confident he’ll be perfectly all right for next season.”
Poquelin now finds himself an even stronger favourite for the 2011 Ryanair Chase at a 7/2 margin.
