Willoughby Court is in serious danger of not being fit in time to participate at the Cheltenham Festival, according to a report on Sky Sports.
The JLT Novices’ Chase favourite has picked up a foot injury and is now in serious doubt to participate in the Festival.
The stable star was a winner at last year’s Festival and was tipped to do very well once again this year. However, the injury is a huge blow for the horse and for the owners.
There is no indication of when the recovery could be made but there are hopes that the injury is not as serious as feared.
Jason Maguire, who is the racing manager for Willoughby Court’s owners, Paul and Clare Rooney, said:
He’s got a bit of an abscess in his foot, which is frustrating, but we’ll just have to see how he is over the next few days.
It’s very disappointing to come so close to Cheltenham but it can’t be helped. His owners are very patient and are very happy to do what is best by him.
We’ll make a decision in the next couple of days whether he’s fit enough to go to Cheltenham or not. If he can’t go, he can’t go.
Suffering such a huge blow just before the Festival is really unlucky for the owners, who would have been expecting a victory.
