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Apology for limited postings today.

We apologise for not carrying our usual number of racing news stories today, but our on-going server application work has given us limited access to our pages. Our web engineer assures us normal service will be resumed on Friday morning.

Mikael to miss Cheltenham Festival.

Treble Grade One winning novice hurdler Mikael D'Haguenet will definitely miss this year's Cheltenham Festival.

Trainer Willie Mullins reports he was sore after his gallop at Leopardstown on Sunday, and as this will delay his return to fast work, it means there is not enough time left to prepare him for Cheltenham action, and even Fairyhouse and Aintree could still be doubtful.

'Choc' picks up another interesting ride.

With Irish handler Jimmy Lambe confirming Robert 'Chocolate' Thornton is to ride Drumbaloo in the Weatherbys Champion Bumper at this year's Cheltenham Festival, the jockey is beginning to pick up a very interesting and capable set of rides, and some canny punters are now having a slight wager on 'Choc' to win this year's Top Rider Award at the 2010 Cheltenhan Festival.

Miss Mitch retired ahead of Cheltenham.

Connections today confirmed nine-year-old mare Miss Mitch will miss the Cheltenham Festival, and is to be retired to stud with immediate effect. Second in her two outings this season to Our Vic and The Sawyer, Miss mitch suffered a slight setback a couple of weeks ago, and while she could have been prepared for races later in the Spring, connections decided it was the right time for her to go to the paddocks.

Nine go to post for Newbury Chase.

Big Fella Thanks will be ridden by Barry Geraghty in Saturday's Raymond Mould Supporting Greatwood Gold Cup at Newbury, and while the Paul Nicholls trained gelding may well be using the race as his preparation for the Aintree Grand National, the fact Ruby Walsh is on stable mate Pasco may be more significant in terms of the result of Saturday's contest.

The weights for the race remain the same after David Pipe left veteran Our Vic in the field at today's 48 hour decleration stage.

Panjo Bere, Can't Buy Time, and Battle Cry are also left in the race, and Tom George has confirmed Sam Thomas will ride Regal Heights.

Nicky Henderson will be represented by Au Courant, and former smart handicapper Stan will carry the hopes of Venetia Williams's Hereford yard.

Johnson making plans for Quwetwo.

Following his victory over Zaynar in the Victor Chandler Morebattle Hurdle at Kelso , Howard Johnson has decided Quwetwo will stay hurdling for the remainder of this season, adn the County Durham trainer is now looking at several options.

"Quwetwo seems to be in good form, and he will either go on to Aintree or Ayr. After his Kelso win he is up to 146 in the ratings, so we have a few options which we will way up nearer the time. We could possibly look at the Aintree Hurdle over two and a half miles, or mwe could see what the major handicaps are looking like, and there is also the Scottish Champion Hurdle at Ayr on Scottish Grand National Day."

Taranis to misss Gold Cup and Grand National.

Taranis's owner Angela Yeoman has confirmed the Paul Nicholls trained nine-year-old will miss both the Cheltenham Gold Cup and the Aintree Grand National due to a medical setback.

Explaining the situation, the owner issued a short statement:

"I found out on Tuesday evening there was a problem with Taranis, but thankfully the setback does not seem to involve his previous leg problems. He has been withdrawn from the Cheltenham Gold Cup and the Grand National, and he is now due to undergo a series of veterinary tests to identify the reason for the current setback."

Starluck shines in Cheltenham all weather preparation.

Alan Fleming's Champion Hurdle prospect Starluck showed his well being with a fine win in a One Mile Handicap at Kempton's all weather meeting on Wednesday.

Handling the early exchanges well, Starluck and partner Liam Keniry suddenly found themselves with work to do when the front running Gaily Noble committed for home two furlongs out, but Keniry did not panic, and with a good burst of acceleration Starluck cut back the deficit before going on to score by half a length.

After the winning run, Fleming said,

"As a preparation run it could not have gone better, and we now have two weeks to hone Starluck for the Champion Hurdle. He really does seem to be in great shape, and based on his Christmas Hurdle run, we have every chance of finishing in the first three."