Harry Cobden will miss the Cheltenham meeting on Saturday after failing to recover sufficiently from an injury sustained in a crash at Ascot last weekend.
Cobden was riding Neon Moon in the handicap chase when he fell at the ninth fence and was subsequently hit by a trailing horse.
That meant he missed out on a Grade One winning ride at Johnbon, which was to have been his first significant ride since being announced as JP McManus’ new retained rider from May.
His former boss Paul Nicholls confirmed to The Sun that Cobden will miss the meeting, including a ride on promising minor Minella Yoga, which will now be driven by Sam Twiston-Davies.
Sam Twiston-Davies comes to run Minella Yoga
“We will only have two runners at Cheltenham, Sam will ride Minella Yoga and Freddie Gyngell will ride Quebec,” said Nicholls.
“Harry’s shoulder is still giving him a bit of a zig, so he will need a few more days to recover from the fall.”
Nicholls revealed last week that he would speak to Twiston-Davies about running a Grade One in his own backyard next season when Cobden takes up his new position.