Cheltenham off the agenda for German hope Estacas

Andreas Wohler-trained five-year-old was beaten at Lingfield on Sunday.

Andreas Wohler has ruled Estacas out of a possible crack at the Weatherbys Champion Bumper at Cheltenham after he was beaten at Lingfield on Sunday.

The five-year-old is in most bookmakers’ lists at prices varying from 16-1 to 50-1, after he made a winning racecourse debut at Ascot in October, but he is not going to be even entered at the Festival.

Wohler felt the performance Estacas put up in finishing third behind Our Jester was not good enough for a potential Cheltenham contender, even accounting for trouble at the start and in running.

“It was too slow a race for him. When they started to sprint there as a bit of trouble, but he kept going at the end. Now we’ll leave him here in Germany to stay on the Flat,” said the Melbourne Cup-winning trainer.

“He was bumped at the start. The pace was too slow. Had he got a better round he would have finished second maybe, but the winner is a good horse.

“We’re not going to run him in Cheltenham. That wasn’t good enough.”

Follow us on Twitter racing365dotcom and like our Facebook page.

Latest