I had mentioned in a previous post that the Queen’s Barber Shop will be trying out his luck at the Punchestown Guinness Gold Cup on Wednesday. However, trainer Nicky Henderson has decided against it as a precautionary step.

Henderson states that they were very enthusiastic about the race; however, the final decision was made this morning, after taking a look at the soft ground out there. He includes that he was actually happy with what Barbers Shop was doing, however as he had finished a bit flat in his last race, and because he is a young horse, looking after him is a lot more important.

This decision was made after lots of thought and discussion with the Queen. He does agree that it will be difficult for Barbers Shop next season as he will once again have to take on all the top horses. However as there was no other feasible alternative, they had to adopt this measure.

However, Punchestown’s Ainama and Punjabi will all be participating in the race, as scheduled. The other runners of note worth mentioning are former Gold Cup winner, War of Attrition, Roll Along Air Force One and RSA Chase scorer, Cooldine.

I’m sure even without Barbers Shop, the race will be an intriguing one.