Apparantly likely to be out the season having been injured since winning the Fesival bumper. Probably had been favourite for the Festival novice hurdles – great advert for the game.
Haven’t you just answered your own question there?
‘Apparently likely’ would suggest to me that he picked up an injury & it was hoped that he’d recover. Better that than to declare the horse injured & then turn up to win it (Binocular) I would’ve thought.
Still, I can’t imagine the anti-post market was up to much a full seven months in advance.