The Jukebox Man to miss Punchestown tilt

The Jukebox Man has been ruled out of the Ladbrokes Punchestown Gold Cup after suffering another minor setback.

A hugely popular winner of the King George VI Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day for trainer Ben Pauling, jockey Ben Jones and owner Harry Redknapp, the eight-year-old came up short in his bid for Gold Cup glory at Cheltenham last month, but was subsequently found to be suffering from a small breathing issue and a sore shoulder.

Pauling had hoped to get his stable star back on-song in time for one final outing this season in Ireland, but he will now be given a summer break before returning in the autumn, with the Betfair Chase at Haydock in November identified as a suitable starting point.

Speaking at Stratford on Sunday, the trainer told Racing TV: “He’s not going to go (to Punchestown). He got pus in a foot last week and we’ve missed another two pieces of work, which is a real frustration.

“I spoke to Harry a couple of days ago and we’ve just decided that we can’t go back to a race like that not spot-on. He’s got so much ability and wants to do it so much, you don’t want to dishearten him by running him when he’s not quite right.

“We have had to fit in the wind operation and all the rest of it, so we were needing those pieces of work, so he won’t be going to Punchestown sadly.”

Looking ahead to next season, Pauling added: “I should imagine the Betfair Chase will be first on the agenda, followed by the King George and we’ll see from there.

“I’d love to have another crack at the Gold Cup, people will say he doesn’t stay that trip, but I don’t think you can judge a horse that made a noise coming down the hill as he did. Ben Jones also said he was hanging left throughout the whole race and he was so sore in his left shoulder afterwards.

“He just wasn’t right on the day sadly. You run up the whole season to get to that point and it just didn’t quite fall our way.

“I just know if he can be right and we get another crack, that would be the dream. You don’t get many horses this good, we’ll find out a bit more about his stamina in the Betfair and I’m looking forward to it.”