Friday 16 December 2016 09:08, UK
Nico de Boinville will miss out on a reunion with Coneygree over the festive period as he continues to recover from a broken arm.
After having visited a surgeon at the Royal Gloucester Hospital on Thursday, the Gold Cup-winning jockey has been told he needs more time to rehabilitate before he can think of returning to the saddle.
To that end, he will not ride Coneygree, who is poised to run in either the 32Red King George VI Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day or in the Lexus Chase at Leopardstown two days later.
De Boinville told the Telegraph: "He (the surgeon) was very happy with the way it is healing, but it needs a bit more time and we have agreed to review it again between Christmas and new year.
"It has definitely taken a big stride forward."
De Boinville has been sidelined since November 12 when he was unshipped from Le Reve in a handicap chase at Cheltenham, after which another horse trod on him.
Richard Johnson rode Coneygree on the 2015 Gold Cup winner's long-awaited return to the track at Haydock on November 19, when the partnership finished second to Cue Card in the Betfair Chase.
