Tuesday 21 October 2014 11:40, UK
Dan Skelton has been dealt a blow with the news that Willow's Saviour will be sidelined for the whole of the National Hunt campaign.
Winner of The Ladbroke last term, propelling Skelton into the spotlight in his first season as a trainer, he missed the rest of last year with a hairline fracture and it is a recurrence of that problem which will keep him out again.
"Last year he had a hairline fracture and it's the same problem,'' said Skelton.
"He's just back from Newmarket and the vet told us not to hang our heads in shame and that we had just been unlucky.
"We gave him six months off, as was prescribed, and that should have been long enough.
"It's only fractionally off, as it was before, the vet said it's the tiniest of cracks, but it's enough to stop with him.
"Hopefully he'll be back next year and it's not like he will have had 18 months off in a field as we've had him in exercise for the past 12 weeks, without doing anything serious.
"Fingers crossed he'll be back, he's young enough.''
