Noel Meade has decided against running Harchibald in Sunday's AIG Champion Hurdle due to the prevailing ground conditions at Leopardstown.
Favourite for the Cheltenham Champion Hurdle in March, the six-year-old has won his last three starts in impressive fashion and will head straight to the Festival on March 15th without another run.
"The ground is not ideal following plenty of rain and I've decided to give the race on Sunday a miss," the County Meath handler told the Racing Post.
"I didn't want to work him this morning if he wasn't going to run and I've decided to give him an easy week instead."
Harchibald is the general 3-1 favourite for the Champion Hurdle, and confirming he wouldn't run again before the Festival, Meade added: "We'll try and bring him there fresh."
Another leading fancy for the Irish and English Champion Hurdles, Accordion Etoile, is not certain to line-up at Leopardstown this weekend either.
"There was three inches of snow on The Curragh on Tuesday so we went to Dooninga gallops instead to work and he did it well," Nolan said of his impressive Greatwood Hurdle winner.
"However, we all know he doesn't jump well out of that ground and it looks like a Champion Hurdle without Back In Front, so I'm still not sure whether we'll go there given the recent heavy rain around the country."
PA