Faugheen ruled out of Cheltenham Festival title defence as wheels come off 'the machine'

The champion hurdler Faugheen may have been dubbed “the machine” for the metronomic series of victories which took him unbeaten through two campaigns, but flesh-and-blood frailty has ruled him out of defending his crown at the Cheltenham Festival next month.

Willie Mullins’ eight-year-old was among 14 confirmed at yesterday’s forfeit stage for the Champion Hurdle, only for the trainer later to reveal that the favourite, as short as 1-4 to retain his crown, had suffered a suspensory ligament injury in training and would miss the rest of the season.

In a further twist, Mullins’ Annie Power, who carries the same Ricci colours, was catapulted to favouritism after her return from injury with a bloodless Punchestown win.

Faugheen had suffered a shock reverse when beaten by another stablemate, Nichols Canyon, on his reappearance, but had put that rival emphatically in his place when returning to peak form in landing the Irish Champion Hurdle at Leopardstown last month.

“We were starting back his countdown to Cheltenham. We had given him a nice easy time after Leopardstown and since we started back there was a little bit of soreness in his suspensory ligament,” Mullins explained.

“I gave him a few easy days and we went back at it again, and it flared up again. It’s a small injury, but just bad timing. The prognosis is very good but I don’t think we are going to have him back for Punchestown. We will just call it quits for this season and, hopefully, come back as good as new next season. We have a very good record with putting that type of injury back without recurring.”

Faugheen’s jockey, Ruby Walsh, expressed his consternation at the news, saying: “It’s like someone whipping the ace out of the pack and handing you the rest of the cards.”

Annie Power requires some sleight of hand to be added to the pack as she would need a supplementary entry, at a cost of £20,000, at the next forfeit stage on 9 March, six days before the race.

Mullins has last year’s runner-up Arctic Fire, Nichols Canyon and Sempre Medici among the existing 13 contenders but, on hearing Annie Power was the new favourite, observed: “It looks like we will have to supplement her, then. That’s interesting. The other horses are racing fit but she is not racing fit. You would love to get another run, but there isn’t time.”

Any change of plan would have knock-on effects for the Mares’ Hurdle and World Hurdle at Cheltenham. Annie Power, who had been odds-on for the former contest, has been displaced as favourite by her stablemate Vroum Vroum Mag; she remains second favourite for the latter behind Thistlecrack.

But punters’ plans for a short-priced Mullins-trained four-timer on the opening day of the Festival on Min, Douvan, Faugheen and Annie Power – to rival last year’s gamble that foundered only when the mare crashed out at the last flight when poised to land the fourth leg – have collapsed at a stroke like a house of cards.

9-4 Annie Power, 7-2 Arctic Fire, 5-1 Nichols Canyon, 6-1 Identity Thief, 9-1 My Tent Or Yours, 12-1 The New One, 16-1 Peace And Co, 25-1 Camping Ground, Hargam, Old Guard, 28-1 Top Notch, 33-1 Sempre Medici, 66-1 Sign Of A Victory, 100-1 Purple Bay.