Arkle favourite Marine Nationale to miss Cheltenham Festival

Marine Nationale will miss next week's My Pension Expert Arkle Challenge Trophy Novices' Chase due to a suspensory strain.

The seven-year-old won the Supreme Novices' Hurdle at Cheltenham last year and had been a general 9-4 favourite to supplement his Festival haul in the Arkle.

However, trainer Barry Connell reports his star performer to be in need of a six-week rest, scuppering not only his Cheltenham run, but also any possible engagements at Aintree or Punchestown.

Connell said: "He basically needs six weeks off and he has got a minor suspensory strain.

"We did our final piece of work with him on Saturday and were thrilled with him - it was as good a piece of work he has done in the last year and a half.

"Everything was all ready for Cheltenham and he was all ready to go, but we obviously don't ride out on Sunday and came in this morning and the horse was lame.

"He has never had a lame step in his life before, so we just put him to one side for the vets to look at him. They went through him in detail and it's the best possible result we could have hoped for because it's basically liked a pulled muscle in human terms.

"It is in the suspensory, not a tendon and it's not a tear, it's basically a little shadow. If we had not caught it and gone on with it, things could have been worse, so the vets say if he gets six weeks' rest, he will be 100%."

Owner-trainer Barry Connell admitted to nerves watching Marine Nationale compete as a hot favourite today but said he was "the horse of a lifetime" after his charge eased to victory on his chasing debut at #Leopardstown. Report: https://t.co/0GGLqUZVyw pic.twitter.com/NU5Z53SNyE

Marine Nationale has run just twice this term, winning impressively on his fencing bow at Leopardstown's