River Out Of Chandler Cloone River has been ruled out of the Victor Chandler Chase at Cheltenham after suffering a setback. The 10-year-old had been the 4-1 favourite with the sponsors for the January 28 event but trainer Paul Nolan has decided to bypass the race after the gelding aggravated an old injury. 'We schooled Cloone River over a few fences on Friday morning and he was quite stiff that evening,' Nolan told the Racing Post. 'He seems to have aggravated the muscle problem high up in his back that troubled him after he fell in the Galway Hurdle and we are going to have to take things easy with him for a few weeks. 'He was sound when we pulled him out this morning, but he was sore on one side yesterday and I know that if we worked him again he would be feeling the muscle problem.' Cloone River, winner of both his starts over fences, is as low as 8-1 with Coral for the Queen Mother Champion Chase but Nolan is not sure he will be ready for the Festival event. He added: 'He will be going up to (vet) Ned Gowing on the Curragh on Monday to have a scan and when that is done we should know more about his prospects for the rest of the season. 'We are still hoping to get him to Cheltenham for the Queen Mother Champion Chase, but we will have to wait and see. What is definite is that we are going to have to give the Victor Chandler a miss.'(C) PA Sport
