Al Dancer will not run again this season after Cheltenham disappointment

Al Dancer, who was widely fancied for the Supreme Novices' Hurdle last week, will not run again this season after his disappointing performance at the Cheltenham Festival.

The Betfair Hurdle winner, who carries the colours of Dai Walters, failed to reproduce that form when finishing only tenth of 16 behind Klassical Dream in the Supreme as 9-2 joint-favourite.

Connections had been conspicuously upbeat in the build-up to the festival about the prospect of the six-year-old stretching his winning run this campaign to five, but he failed to pick up after travelling strongly to the second-last.

Trainer Nigel Twiston-Davies said: "Nothing has come to light since the race. It wasn't long [24 days] after the Ascot race – maybe Cheltenham came too soon for him.

"Al Dancer won't run again this season and we'll have to talk with the owner before deciding about plans [whether to stay over hurdles or go novice chasing] for next year."

Stablemate Bristol De Mai, generally a 25-1 shot for next month's Randox Health Grand National at Aintree, is not a definite runner on April 6.

"I don't know if he'll run in the National," Twiston-Davies added. "We’ll discuss it with the owners, and see how he is."

Dual Betfair Chase hero Bristol De Mai, owned by Simon Munir and Isaac Souede, finished third to Al Boum Photo in the Cheltenham Gold Cup last week, having briefly looked as though he was going to lay down an even stronger challenge for glory in the straight.

"He ran well, but I was still a bit disappointed," Twiston-Davies said. "I wouldn't be worried about people saying he's best fresh with Aintree in mind.

"One of his best performances was in his first Betfair Chase, which came just three weeks after him winning the Charlie Hall at Wetherby. He doesn't need to be fresh."

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