Waiting Patiently connections to bide their time

Ruth Jefferson has confirmed Waiting Patiently will sidestep the Cheltenham Festival and instead aim for the Grand National meeting at Aintree.

Having impressed in the King George VI Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day, many were expecting Waiting Patiently to feature at Prestbury Park for the Festival in March.

However, trainer Jefferson has decided to pull Waiting Patiently, who finished third in his last outing at Ascot, out of three potential races at Cheltenham and feels the extra time off will serve the 10-year-old better.

Jefferson said: “I took him out of the Queen Mother ages ago and I've now taken him out of the Ryanair and the Gold Cup.

“Thinking about it, we felt the King George wasn't the fastest run three-mile race in the world, so maybe the Gold Cup wasn't the right option.

“And after his last race, he was going to need a little bit of veterinary attention, so we thought we'd leave him for Aintree.

“He's not had an issue as such, but the longer between his Ascot run and his next run the better.”