French runners set to miss Cheltenham

The disease continues to affect racing across Europe

French horses are set to pull out of the Cheltenham festival as uncertainty continues to hamper the build-up to the National Hunt spectacle.

Organisers received a welcome boost when it was confirmed that a suspected outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease at a farm close to the track was "no longer a problem".

But the news that the French contingent are ready to follow the Irish in withdrawing from this year's event comes as a new bitter blow.

The French Government announced a ban on the movement of horses on Monday.

Our Government is being even stricter than they are in Britain and it is unlikely that our horses will be able to travel to Cheltenham

  Frace Galop chief
Louis Romanet

And Louis Romanet, head at France Galop, admitted that it was now unlikely that any horses would be able to cross the Channel to take part in Britain's showpiece jumps meeting.

The absence of the French is especially damaging as they were responsible for three of the ante-post favourites - First Gold in the Tote Cheltenham Gold Cup, Jair du Cochet in the Elite Racing Club Triumph Hurdle and Baracouda in the Royal & SunAlliance Novices' Hurdle.

Romanet said: "Our Government is being even stricter than they are in Britain and it is unlikely that our horses will be able to travel to Cheltenham.

"They have brought in a ban of transporting horses in vans for two weeks. It means we can only have racing where horses are stabled at the track.

'All-clear' at local farm

"It's a great shame for our trainers but we are going to hold further talks with our agriculture ministry later Monday and on Tuesday to see if we can agree a code of practice to allow the movement of horses."

Cheltenham's clerk of the course Simon Claisse meanwhile insisted preparations were still on course despite continuing uncertainty over whether the festival can go ahead as planned.

The suspected local foot-and-mouth outbreak was at a farm at Woolstone just five miles from the course.

We are continuing to make our preparations for the festival - we've just got to plough on

  Cheltenham's clerk of the course Simon Claisse

And while Claisse confirmed no positive identification of the virus, he knows the situation is still far from stable.

"Nothing has come to light after six days and that's supposed to be all OK which is a great relief for the farmer and for ourselves.

"However, we all appreciate this could change at any time.

"But we are continuing to make our preparations for the festival - we've just got to plough on."

The festival is due to start on 13 March although contingency plans are in place to run a three-day Gold Cup meeting on 17 April if the original schedule cannot proceed.