Defi Du Seuil out of Cheltenham as Hobbs decides to pull stumps for season

Defi Du Seuil will not take part at the Cheltenham Festival next month with connections deciding to miss the rest of the season in an attempt to get the 2017 Triumph Hurdle and 2019 JLT Novices' Chase winner back to his best.

Philip Hobbs has scratched the eight-year-old from the Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase and Ryanair Chase, and he told the Racing Post that the seven-time Grade 1 winner would not be seen again this season.

He said of the dual festival hero: "It has been decided after Ascot he is better off missing the rest of the season. There's no reason at all why he shouldn't be back properly next season, but having had two disappointing runs we felt that was the best thing to do.

"It was going to get very tight to get him to Cheltenham this year so it seemed to make more sense to give him a break. He is still with us at the moment, but he will go back to Martinstown [owner JP McManus's home]."

Defi Du Seuil arrived at last season's Cheltenham Festival as one of the hottest favourites of the week following wins in the Shloer, Tingle Creek and Clarence House Chase, but he failed to deliver on his odds of 2-5 when a disappointing fourth behind Politologue in the Champion Chase.

This term he has failed to return to his best for Hobbs and McManus, being pulled up on his comeback in the Shloer and finishing fifth, beaten 17 lengths, in the Clarence House behind First Flow at Ascot last month. Hobbs described that latest effort as "an improvement" in the immediate aftermath of the Clarence House.

It is not the first time Defi Du Seuil has gone off the boil as his unbeaten juvenile campaign, which culminated in Grade 1 victories at Cheltenham and Aintree, was followed by a season over hurdles in open company and two disappointing runs – in the Coral Hurdle at Ascot and Irish Champion Hurdle at Leopardstown.

Switched to novice chasing the following season, he again took top rank and followed it up by dominating last season's two-mile division in Britain until flopping at the festival.

Defi Du Seuil career details

Defi Du Seuil had been available at a best-price 33-1 for the Champion Chase and Ryanair. In total seven horses were taken out of the Champion Chase, with Cash Back, Impact Factor, Janika, Le Richebourg, Sizing Pottsie and Waiting Patiently all scratched.

Waiting Patiently: removed from the Champion Chase, Ryanair and Gold CupCredit: Alan Crowhurst (Getty Images)

Ruth Jefferson also confirmed on Tuesday that Waiting Patiently had been one of 12 horses removed from the Magners Cheltenham Gold Cup, with Presenting Percy and Bristol De Mai also among those taken out.

Waiting Patiently is also among 15 horses gone from the Ryanair, with Savills Chase winner A Plus Tard and the Nicky Henderson-trained trio of Caribean Boy, Terrefort and Top Notch all now absentees.

Beacon Edge, Call Me Lord, Marie's Rock and Ribble Valley were the four entries scratched from the Unibet Champion Hurdle, while nine were taken out of the Paddy Power Stayers' Hurdle, including Bapaume, Call Me Lord and Dame De Compagnie.

Champion Hurdle entries

Champion Chase entries

Stayers' Hurdle entries

Gold Cup entries

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