Solwhit Out of World Hurdle

As the start of the 2011 Cheltenham Festival draws nearer by the day we are being faced with more and more withdrawals as contender either opt for a specific race or drop out altogether. The latest to be pulled off the festival circuit appears to be the talented World Hurdle fancy Solwhit.

The Charles Byrnes-trained gelding had been slugging it out with Hurricane Fly for most of the season with the two matching up against each other on several occasions throughout the 2010/11 Irish National Hunt campaign.

Solwhit had been as low as 12/1 for the Ladbroke World Hurdle.

Speaking to the media, Byrnes declared that “we worked with Solwhit this morning and he didn’t show any sparkle. So we’ve decided there is no point in sending him to Cheltenham.” The popular conditioner also stated that a tilt at Aintree was likely off the table, “we had been thinking of running him in the Aintree Hurdle next month but he’s unlikely to go there either.”

The long-term future for Solwhit does look relatively rosy and it was clarified that the horse has not been withdrawn due to injury, just a mere lack of “sparkle”.

Connections have made noise about Solwhit going chasing next season and that appears to be the course of action between now and next fall.