There has been disappointment for Pembrokeshire racing fans this week with the news that eight-year-old gelding Tobefair, trained by Paul and Debbie Hamer and owned by the 'Down the Quay' syndicate that’s based at the Cresselly Arms pub, has had to withdraw from the Cheltenham Festival.
Trained by Paul and Debbie Hamer and ridden by Trevor Whelan, the horse had qualified for the Pertemps Handicap Hurdle for the second successive year, securing his place with a third placed finish at a series qualifier in Warwick last month.
Hopes were high he could improve on his 22nd placed finish in the same race in 2017 but unfortunately, the horse lost valuable training time of late due to injury, and the recent weather conditions have prevented him starting any kind of recovery programme.
And whilst Tobefair is now deemed to be fit and well, trainers and owners felt it was unfair to force him to race at Cheltenham under prepared.
Horse and jockey will now try and target a place at The Grand National meeting in Aintree in April.
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