THE mystery surrounding JP McManus’ latest big purchase has deepened, with the horse now set to miss Cheltenham Festival altogether.

French recruit Prengarde rocketed to the top of the Cross Country Chase market just over a month ago.

McManus has dominated Cheltenham Festival over the years but his latest buy looks set to miss this year’s meeting

Punters piled on once word spread billionaire McManus was the horse’s new owner and that he had been sent to jumps supremo Enda Bolger’s yard.

But the six-year-old has yet to run for his new connections.

His last race was a 3m3f win at Compiegne in November last year.

In that time, Grand National hero Tiger Roll has usurped Prengarde at the top of the betting for the Festival race.

Gordon Elliott’s superstar is now a general 5-2, while Prengarde remains second favourite at 4-1.

However, Bolger was adamant that Prengarde would need a run before going to Cheltenham.

Commenting on the horse and plans for entries last week, he said: “We’ll see what’s going to happen in the next 10 days or so.

“He definitely won’t go straight to Cheltenham without a run.”

Prengarde has not been entered in any new races since, with his only official entry still the Cross Country Chase itself.

With just three weeks until the week of the Festival, it is looking more and more unlikely Prengarde will get the prep run needed to make it to the Festival.

And punters could remain in the dark about his next assignment for a few weeks yet.

What that means is, with Tiger Roll out of the Grand National, all roads lead to him dominating at Cheltenham once again.

Owner Michael O’Leary says the dual National winner will not race at Aintree in April because of his handicap mark.

Instead he will be aimed at the Cross Country, a race he won by 18 lengths last year.

O’Leary said: “Tiger Roll will be trained for the Cross Country race at Cheltenham, and there is every likelihood that win, lose or draw, this will be his last racecourse appearance.”