Zeb to skip Christmas meeting Big Zeb has been ruled out of Sunday's Paddy Power Dial-A-Bet Chase at Leopardstown as trainer Colm Murphy bids to keep the two mile chaser fresh for the remainder of the season. The eight-year-old oozed class when scoring on his reappearance at Navan but could then only finish fourth when sent off favourite for the Tingle Creek at Sandown. Murphy feels he may have been feeling the effects of his first run of the season that day and does not want to make the same mistake again. "We've worked him this afternoon and everything went fine, he's just not buzzing like he can do, so we're going to give it a miss," said Murphy. "He wasn't at his best at Sandown and we felt that the run probably came too soon after his win at Navan. I've made the mistake once and I just don't want to make it twice, so he'll probably be out towards the end of January somewhere." "There is the Normans Grove Chase and the Tied Cottage Chase and I would say he'll run in one of those, all being well."
