Willie Mullins reveals Klassical Dream to miss rest of the season after a setback

Willie Mullins has revealed Klassical Dream has met with a setback and will not run again this season.

The nine-year-old has had injury troubles in the past, most notably when being off from the racecourse between December 2019 and a sublime winning return in April 2021, and is set for another period of time away from the track after suffering a setback in his most recent bit of work.

Speaking at Leopardstown, Mullins said: "Unfortunately he suffered a setback after his last bit of work. He has had his problems over the years and will miss the rest of the season."

Klassical Dream has won ten of his 24 starts and seven Grade 1s, including the 2019 Supreme Novices' Hurdle and top-level contests at four Punchestown festivals.

He had been as short as 12-1 on Friday morning for the Brown Advisory Novices' Chase following a smooth debut over fences at Thurles last month, with jockey Paul Townend describing him as "foot-perfect" after his win by nine and a half lengths.

He had been expected to be a leading contender in Friday's Neville Hotel Novice Chase at Leopardstown but was a surprise omission from declarations, having also not been declared for the Kauto Star Novices' Chase at Kempton.

However, his absence has now been explained and he is a significant loss to the novice chase team trained by Mullins, who also has Turners Novices' Chase favourite Gaelic Warrior, promising stayer Fact To File and Arkle contender Facile Vega, who needs to bounce back after finishing last of four in Grade 1 company at Leopardstown on Tuesday.

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