Anzum, winner of the Bonusprint Stayers' Hurdle at last year's Cheltenham Festival, misses an intended run at Ascot this Saturday.
The gelding had been forced to bypass a defence of the Stayers' Hurdle this season due to soreness but trainer Alan King had hoped to run him in the Grade Two Grosvenor Casinos Long Distance Hurdle at the Berkshire track.
However the horse did not appear among the entries at the five-day stage and King said: "He's still not right yet.
"We'll see how we go. If we can get him right we might look at Punchestown but we just could not get him ready for Ascot."
