Trainers Noel George and Amanda Zetterholm have all but confirmed that star French novice chaser Il Est Francais will skip the Cheltenham Festival in favour of assignments closer to home this season. The six-year-old is trading at short prices on a Non Runner No Bet basis for the Turners Novices’ Chase, his only entry at the meeting.
The son of Karaktar, who had won his first two chase starts in France, came over to England on Boxing Day for the Grade 1 Kauto Star Novices’ Chase. There, he put in a round of jumping rarely seen from a novice and obliterated his five rivals by 11 lengths and more. Many hoped off the back of that success that we may well see him on these shores again very soon.
However, it had long been suggested that the plan would be to skip a potential clash with Willie Mullins’ Fact To File and others and stay focused instead on a domestic campaign. His main target is said to be the Grand Steeple-Chase De Paris at Auteuil in May.
His absence will leave Fact To File and Paul Nicholls’ Ginny’s Destiny to vie for favouritism for the opener on Cheltenham Festival Thursday. The Kauto Star form could nevertheless still be boosted in the build-up to the Festival with third-placed Kilbeg King set to run in the Grade 2 Reynoldstown Novices’ Chase at Ascot.