KING George flop Lostintranslation won’t run again before the Cheltenham Festival.
The Colin Tizzard-trained eight-year-old emerged as a major contender for the Gold Cup when winning the Betfair Chase in November.
But he ran badly below-par at Kempton on Boxing Day, eventually being pulled up by jockey Robbie Power.
Connections were left scratching their heads at his performance, and they had considered giving him a prep run in the Denman Chase at Newbury next month.
But that plan has now been scrapped and the gelding, who is 8-1 for the Gold Cup with Ladbrokes, will be kept fresh.
Assistant trainer Joe Tizzard said: “We’ve just gone easy with him and he’s had his flu jab. There’s nothing that has particularly come out of the race that would say that is the reason for his run.
“He had an off-day. Whether Haydock took more out of him than perhaps we thought, it’s hard to tell, but all his work leading up to Kempton was very good and we couldn’t have been happier.
“It’s our job now to get him back and get him 100 per cent for the Gold Cup.
“It would be nice to point at something and say that was the reason, but we haven’t got that, so we’ll just freshen him up and I don’t think we will run him before the Gold Cup.
“We can do plenty at home and just maybe take him for a couple of racecourse gallops and freshen him right up for March.”
