Trainer Nicky Henderson has today confirmed that Buveur D’Air will miss the Aintree Festival this weekend.
The 7-year-old was set to run in the Betway Aintree Hurdle, a race where he would be defending his crown from last year’s meet.
Unfortunately, the horse won’t get the chance, due to major concerns regarding his welfare.
Henderson said, via the Racing Post:
Sadly Buveur D’Air will not run at Aintree on Thursday due to an unsatisfactory trachea wash. It is a very routine procedure, and something we do with all of our runners, but he was found to have a small amount of mucus which means unfortunately we just cannot run him. It is terribly frustrating but the horse’s welfare is of paramount importance and it tells us he is not 100 per cent.
This comes as a huge disappointment to the Seven Barrows team and owner JP McManus, as Buveur D’Air was set to be a hot favourite in the race and looked nailed on to make it twelve wins on the the spin.
However, there could be a possibilty of running at the Punchestown Festival next month, if the horse recovers well and regains full fitness.
He added.
There is the option of Punchestown, and we will think about it, but at the moment our main priority is getting Buveur back to full health.
Let’s hope this multiple group one winner makes a speedy recovery and returns to the track in the near future!
