Ben Pauling has confirmed JLT Novices' Chase favourite Willoughby Court won't run at the Cheltenham Festival.
Having provided the trainer with a first Festival winner in the Neptune Investments Novices' Hurdle last March, the seven-year-old was a clear market leader for his Cheltenham target this term having won two of his three starts to date over fences.
However, Pauling revealed on Monday the seven-year-old had pus in a foot and they have lost the battle to get him ready.
The trainer told sportinglife.com: "Basically time has gone against us. His infected foot is grumbling on and we're losing more and more time. It doesn't look like we're going to be able to get on with him until next week. We're going to miss too much work and basically it would be careless to try and get him there.
"You may cause more damage than good. It's very likely you'll see him at Aintree. In one way it's a huge relief it's nothing serious and it's basically a bit of bad luck. He's not a horse who's had any lameness in the past and they can't even find where the infection came from which is even more annoying.
"His owners Paul and Claire Rooney have been amazing and have given us huge support through it all. We can't thank them enough."
