Il Est Francais ruled out of French Gold Cup as connections opt for caution following 'flat' piece of work

Il Est Francais will miss the Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris on May 19, with joint-trainers Noel George and Amanda Zetterholm taking the decision to rest him in the wake of his defeat in the Prix Murat, and following what they described as a "slightly flat" piece of work on Thursday morning.

Il Est Francais showed himself to be one of the most exciting young chasers around when dominating the Grade 1 Kauto Star Novices' Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day, but plans for an assault on France's version of the Gold Cup received a major setback when the six-year-old trailed home last in his prep race at Auteuil last month.

Nothing significant came to light after George and his team ran a battery of tests on their star and initially the plan was to proceed towards the Grand Steeple. But in a statement released on their X account, the Il Est Francais team announced the son of Karaktar would head to a summer at grass at the farm of his breeder and co-owner, Nicolas de Lageneste.

George and Zetterholm said: "Following his counter performance last month and a slightly flat piece of work this morning, we have decided with the owners, Richard Kelvin-Hughes and Nicolas de Lageneste, to give the horse a break in the fields for a few months.

"He will rest at his co-owner's stud Haras de Saint-Voir for the summer. Therefore Il Est Francais will not be taking part in the French Gold Cup at the end of this month.

"We are very much looking forward to having him back for an autumn campaign. We prefer to be cautious and give the horse the time he needs to get back to his very best."

Il Est Francais is a general 8-1 chance for next season's King George VI Chase back at Kempton.

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