Riverside Theatre has today been ruled out of the Ryanair Chase with a hairline fracture to his pelvis.
Owned by the Jimmy Nesbitt Partnership, which includes actor James Nesbitt, the seven-year-old was the general second favourite for the Cheltenham Festival showpiece after winning the Betfair Ascot Chase last month.
He also finished second to stablemate Long Run in the rescheduled King George VI Chase at Kempton in January.
Trainer Nicky Henderson nonetheless remains confident Riverside Theatre will make a complete recovery. He said: "Riverside was lame after exercise on Friday and, as a result, we found he had suffered a hairline fracture to his pelvis.
"Although we hoped the problem was muscular, a scan revealed that to be not the case. He's lucky this has been revealed, rather than anything more serious, as the consequences would have been bad.
"I have spoken to the vets and we are confident he'll be perfectly fine for next season. It's still an enormous shame as he was having a most promising season. He's still young, though, and will hopefully have a huge career."
Poquelin is now best price 7/2 favourite for the Ryanair which takes place on Thursday 17th.
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