Supreme Novices' Hurdle winner Marine Nationale ruled out of Cheltenham Festival with injury

Marine Nationale, the horse that won big at Cheltenham last year, can't race in the Arkle Trophy next week because of a leg injury.

The seven year old was the top pick to win again at the Festival, but now he needs to rest for six weeks. Barry Connell, his trainer, said: "He basically needs six weeks off and he has got a minor suspensory strain." Connell shared how great Marine Nationale had been doing in training just before getting hurt. He explained: "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."

However, the horse was found to be lame, which has come as a shock given his previous injury record. Connell said: "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." After the vets checked Marine Nationale, they found it wasn't too bad, like a human pulling a muscle.

Connell explained: "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."

The injury is not a tear but more like a small mark on the muscle and Connell is relieved it was detected early: "It is in the suspensory, not a tendon and it's not a tear, it's basically a little shadow," he explained. "The good news is that with enough rest, Marine Nationale should be back to his best. Connell finished by saying: "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 per cent."