ESPOIR D’ALLEN, THE widest-margin winner of a Champion Hurdle when slamming his rivals by 15 lengths at Cheltenham last week, is finished for the season, trainer Gavin Cromwell has said.
Cromwell had hinted Espoir D’Allen would not run again this season immediately after the Champion Hurdle and yesterday he confirmed he had drawn stumps with the five-year-old, who is the general 5-1 favourite to retain his crown next year.
He said: “He’s done enough for this season and he’s obviously worth looking after, so we have decided to give him a well-deserved break.”
It may be over a week since Espoir D’Allen provided JP McManus with his eighth Champion Hurdle success and Cromwell with his greatest day so far in racing, but the trainer is still struggling to put the achievement into words.
“It’s the stuff you dream of,” he added. “It’s hard to put it all into words, if I’m being honest. It’s just been a fantastic week.”
- Brian Fleming, for more visit the Racing Post
Murray Kinsella and Andy Dunne dissect Ireland’s disappointing Six Nations campaign, and discuss the pros and cons of rugby’s new law proposals in the latest episode of The42 Rugby Weekly:
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