‘And so it begins’ – ante-post punters panicking as another big Cheltenham Festival hope is ruled out

ANTE-POST punters have been thrown into a state of panic five months before the Cheltenham Festival after another big hope was ruled out.

An Tobar, who had been as short as 12-1 for the Ballymore after being backed from 25s, was scratched due to a tendon injury.

Purchased by powerful owners Robcour, the Henry de Bromhead-trained An Tobar was one of the talking horses of Twitter among ante-post punters.

A 20-length winner of a point-to-point in January this year, the five-year-old looked to be heading for big things under the top trainer.

But Rob Acheson of Robcour told the We’re Going Chasing podcast their future star was officially out through injury.

That saw a number of fanatics rip up some season-long accas they had been nursing through the summer months.

As news of An Tobar’s injury spread, one regular ante-post punter used to seeing horses exit early wrote: “And so it begins…”;

Another said: “The joys of ante-post betting. Ah well, hopefully we see him next year.”;

One comment read: “The pain of backing ante-post.”;

Another said: “Another one gone.”;

While one groaned: “Oh for f*** sake!”;

It wasn’t all doom and gloom though as one punter managed to cash out several losing bets on the horse for £200 before the markets changed.

His cash out offer was so generous because he backed the horse months ago at a much bigger price.

Willie Mullins has been whacked with three of his runners also all about certain the miss racing’s biggest meeting.

Last year’s mightily impressive Albert Bartlett winner The Nice Guy is done for the season.

The unbeaten seven-year-old has ‘a problem behind’ according to the trainer and won’t be seen until next year.

Redemption Day, a runner-up to huge Supreme fav Facile Vega, is another of Mullins’ fancied runners confirmed out.

As is James’s Gate, the five-year old novice hurdler owned by Sean and Bernardine Mulryan of Ballymore fame.

FREE BETS GET OVER £2,000 IN SIGN UP OFFERS HERE

Commercial content notice: Taking one of the bookmaker offers featured in this article may result in a payment to The Sun. 18+. T&Cs apply. Begambleaware.org

Remember to gamble responsibly

A responsible gambler is someone who:

• Establishes time and monetary limits before playing
• Only gambles with money they can afford to lose
• Never chases their losses
• Doesn’t gamble if they’re upset, angry or depressed
• Gamcare – www.gamcare.org.uk
• Gamble Aware – www.begambleaware.org