Cheltenham Festival ante-post favourite Epatante has been treated for a back problem following her shock defeat at Kempton. Nicky Henderson's reigning champion hurdler was brushed aside by Silver Streak in the Ladbrokes Christmas Hurdle on Boxing Day.
Priced at 2-1 with Paddy Power to retain her crown in March, Epatante was long odds on for her last run – and her trainer believes he has found the reason for her below par effort. “No (she won’t run before Cheltenham), that’s an easy answer.
She didn’t last year and she won’t this year,” Henderson told ITV’s The Opening Show. “We’re very pleased. We’ve been tinkering, obviously she wasn’t right at Kempton. “It was her back, more than anything, I think, and that is what we have been trying to
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