Langer Dan, trained by Dan Skelton, came alive at Cheltenham in March to win two editions of the Coral Cup but was a late non-runner from the Stayers’ Hurdle this year
One of the Cheltenham Festival’s most popular stalwarts has been retired due to ‘an unexplainable heart problem’. Langer Dan, trained by Dan Skelton, had earned a huge following because he regularly saved his best for Cheltenham in March.
He won two editions of the Coral Cup off the back of a sequence of poor results and had continued the trend ahead of a bid for a hat-trick of Festival wins, this time in the Stayers’ Hurdle, when he was declared a late non-runner.
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Skelton, the season’s leading jumps trainer, revealed on the morning of the big race that Langer Dan had a “slightly dirty nose”.
“I’ve made him a non-runner,” he said. “As you can see there is a bit of mucus in his trachea wash which is a test of his airway to see if there is any infection or mucus in the airway.
“Unfortunately there is too much and we are going to have to not run today. I’ve taken him out.
“It’s very disappointing that we can’t go there. He’s been a horse that’s turned up every year since he was four years old.
“I’m absolutely gutted for Colm [Donlon], who owns him. We always trust him to come alive this time of year and unfortunately he doesn’t get to go and perform today.”
Skelton then nominated next week’s Aintree Hurdle in which Langer Dan finished third in a three-way photo-finish as his next potential target, in which he could have faced Constitution Hill.
The trainer told Mirror Racing: “Langer Dan has been retired. He had a dirty nose the week of Cheltenham and we couldn’t run him in the Stayers’ Hurdle.
“That didn’t ever clear up so we thought we needed to give him some stronger antibiotics. We sent him to the vets to get that done and they rang us immediately and said they had taken a scan of his chest and his heart is not working as efficiently as it should.
“There was no atrial fibrillation or anything like that. It was just a different problem. They don’t know how it’s happened, why it’s happened and there was no way of it getting stopped.
He continued: “It’s a bit of a shock but you don’t mess around with these things. He’s been retired immediately. He has come home to live with Amber who rode him out everyday and we will look after him.”
An instagram account linked to Donlon, Squeaky Racing, confirmed the news in a post which said what had appeared to be a minor respiratory issue had transpired to be “an intrinsic and unexplainable heart problem; therefore Langer Dan has been retired with immediate effect.
“Given this underlying condition we are immensely thankful for the wonderful days we have had with him – especially each Spring!
“He has been a remarkable horse for us: 5 Cheltenham Festivals, 2 Coral Cups and sometimes we forget an Imperial Cup along the way.
“He never really cared what Dan or I thought or wanted to do. He did it all on his own terms.”
The post continued: “Langer Dan is now back home safe and comfortable, in need of a quiet life, and we will look after him like the little legend he is! He will be missed on the racetrack by many and we will cherish the many memorable days.”
