Wings Ruled Out Of Cheltenham

Sadlers Wings will miss the Smurfit Champion Hurdle after aggravating an old injury.

The Willie Mullins-trained eight-year-old put in an eyecatching display in the AIG Europe Champion Hurdle at the end of last month when staying on strongly to finish fourth behind Brave Inca.

The gelding had been off the track since May 2004 before then with a suspensory ligament problem and was a 25-1 chance for the Festival.

“Sadlers Wings is out of the Champion Hurdle as he has an occurrence of his old injury,” Mullins told PA Sport.

“It only happened over the weekend and he won’t make Punchestown either.”

Sadlers Wings, winner of four of his seven starts over timber, landed his biggest career success when taking the Grade One Champion Novice Hurdle at the Punchestown Festival in April 2004.

? PA Sport