Rubi Light© Photo Healy Racing
Rubi Light has been ruled out of next month's Cheltenham Festival after suffering an injury during his disappointing run at Navan on Tuesday.
Robbie Hennessy's stable star was the odds-on favourite to win the Grade Two Red Mills Chase for the third successive year, but was beaten a long way into third by Grand National candidate Chicago Grey.
Hennessy had been looking forward to a third tilt at Cheltenham's Ryanair Chase with his eight-year-old, having finished third and fifth the last two years, but he is now set to be saved for the Punchestown Festival in April.
The trainer said: "He's pulled muscles in his hind quarters and is quite stiff and sore this morning.
"Andrew (Lynch, jockey) thinks he must have done it quite early in the race, as he said he was never travelling at any stage.
"We haven't had much luck with him this year as he's had a lung infection and a foot problem and now this, so it's frustrating.
"We'll have to knock Cheltenham on the head now as I'm not going to rush him back. If we rush him, it would probably do more damage than good.
"We'll give him a bit of time and hopefully we'll have him back in top form for Punchestown."
