Nuts Well to miss Silviniaco Conti Chase

Hamilton star will stay at home until next month.

Nuts Well will sit out the long journey to Kempton for the Silviniaco Conti Chase.

Ann Hamilton’s stable star has not been seen in competitive action since landing the Old Roan Chase at Aintree in October, having since missed the Peterborough Chase at Huntingdon after it was abandoned and switched to Cheltenham, and then the Castleford at Wetherby because testing ground.

Hamilton and her husband Ian were considering travelling from Northumberland to Sunbury-on-Thames for Saturday’s Grade Two feature, but their 10-year-old will instead enjoy a short break following veterinary advice.

“We were thinking about going, but we’ve had the vet here looking at another horse and he’s thinking our horses might be going over the top,” said Hamilton.

“Nuts Well is perfectly all right, but we’ve been training him on and off for the last 10 weeks since he ran. It’s frosty ground, it’s been difficult the getting the horses out and he has been in (training) a long time.

“We’re going to give him a break and hopefully we’ll find a nice race for him at the end of February or something like that.”

The initial plan had been to head south to take on Grade Two opposition again.

“It’s disappointing, because we were working up to do these things,” added Hamilton.

“But we don’t want to go all the way to Kempton if he’s not at his best – and it is a very hot race.”

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