Part-owner Simon Munir has revealed that Bristol De Mai’s poor show in the King George VI Chase was mainly down to stomach ulcers.
The six-year-old grey was strongly fancied to win the Boxing Day race at Kempton on the back of his strong performance in November’s Betfair Chase at Haydock.
However, Bristol De Mai, who is looking to feature in the Cheltenham Gold Cup in March, visibly struggled as the race progressed and had to settle for sixth out of seven finishers.
Munir has since spoken out to try and explain the disappointing display and backed him to make a full recovery.
He told ITV Racing: “Bristol De Mai had a full MOT on Friday at hospital and we got the report from the hospital yesterday and he had ulcers, which we’re now treating.
“Hopefully he should improve next time. If you’ve got pain in your stomach as you’re jumping fences, it impedes your performance, but it’s very common.”
