Trainer Willie Mullins has confirmed Douvan will not race again this season because of recent issues.
Douvan was last seen in competitive action when finishing seventh in the Queen Mother Champions Chase at the Cheltenham Festival back in March, his only defeat over fences.
Following that disappointing performance, it was discovered the seven-year-old had suffered a stress fracture of the pelvis and Mullins has now revealed a decision has been made to leave Douvan out for the rest of the campaign.
“I haven’t been happy with Douvan over the past few days,” he was quoted as saying by racingpost.com. “He appeared to have recovered from the problem that ruled him out of the Tingle Creek Chase but has been intermittently lame since we started doing more with him during the week.
“I have spoken to his owner, Rich Ricci, and because of the calibre of horse Douvan is we’ve decided to take a conservative approach and consequently he won’t be running this season.”
