The latter, trained by Howard Johnson, was on course to defend his Ladbrokes World Hurdle crown but is now unlikely to be seen out before Christmas.

“He is out as he has injured a tendon,” owner Graham Wylie said.

The seven-year-old scored at Wetherby on his seasonal bow and then landed the Ballymore Properties Long Distance Hurdle at Newbury in November.

It is thought he picked up the injury around the time of his second run and that may account for his fall when already looking beaten in the totesport Long Walk Hurdle at Chepstow.

“He has had a lot of hard races and we think the problem might have surfaced after the Newbury race,” Wylie continued.

“That would explain why he wasn’t travelling very well in the Chepstow race and that run could have aggravated it even more.

“He seemed fine at the weekend apart from a little bit of swelling on his leg, which we thought was nothing more than bruising and it would go down.

“We had him scanned this morning and there is a hole in his tendon, so we will have to get him sorted out.

“If we had ignored it and carried on it might have made it worse, so we have done what is best for the horse and hopefully he will be back for next season.”

Wylie’s No Refuge had already been prominent in the betting for the Cheltenham stayers’ contest and the Royal & SunAlliance Hurdle winner is now poised to take over the mantle from his stablemate.

“No Refuge would have to come into the picture now,” added Wylie. “We have always wanted to try him at three miles and he was always there in case something happened to ‘Drever’, so we’ll see how he goes.”

County Durham-based Johnson told Racing UK: “He had that fall at Chepstow and he was sound enough when he came home, but he had been lame at the track.

“We nursed him for a week and he did a little bit of swimming. Yesterday I gave him a walk out and a jog and I just wasn’t 110 per cent happy, so I called the vet in this morning.

“He scanned him and behind the knee there is a black hole, which tells you enough is enough for the season.

“We weren’t forced to run him at Chepstow, but I thought we would get another run into him before Cheltenham and I was going to run No Refuge, but he had a stone bruise and didn’t run.

“We thought ‘Drever’ was fit enough just to take the race in his stride and it has happened like this – but that is racing. It is like Tim Forster used to say ‘you are not just a little bit pregnant’.

“He won’t be ridden out again this season and will go to my main vet Graham Russ in Yarm on Thursday and we will then make a decision on whether he has to be fired or just left for mother nature.

“He will be roughed off now and won’t be out this side of Christmas.

“No Refuge worked this morning and worked great and Royal Rosa is on the way back, but he has to have soft ground.

“They are my two three-milers waiting in the wings and we will have to put them in the races where ‘Drever’ was going to go.”

Johnson’s charge lowered Baracouda’s colours at Cheltenham last March and handed out another beating in the Newbury race.

The Francois Doumen-trained runner is now the 4-1 co-favourite with Coral alongside No Refuge and Rhinestone Cowboy.

Doumen said: “I feel sad for my competition for the injury suffered to their horse. It’s very bad news.”

The 11-year-old landed the Cheltenham stayers’ contest in 2002 and 2003, and the Chantilly-based handler continued: “Already I am looking forward to going directly to Cheltenham. He’s getting older, he needs to be fresher and fresher and that’s more or less my plan.

“He’ll very probably go straight to Cheltenham.”

Baracouda is owned by JP McManus, whose racing manager Frank Berry said: “It’s terrible luck on them.

“It just goes to show that you need a lot of luck to keep them sound and right. It’s a shame.”

On Baracouda, Berry added: “He’s coming on. He’ll be back in work shortly. He was a bit stiff behind, but he will be back in work in 10 days’ time.

“Touch wood if everything goes according to plan it would be great to see him at Cheltenham again.”

Jonjo O’Neill’s Rhinestone Cowboy, winner of the Ballymore Properties Champion Stayers Hurdle at Punchestown in 2004 but unraced since, is William Hill’s new 4-1 favourite, with Baracouda next best at 9-2.

Ladbrokes are even more cautious about O’Neill’s charge and make him their 3-1 market leader.

Ladbrokes World Hurdle betting:

William Hill: 4-1 Rhinestone Cowboy, 9-2 Baracouda, No Refuge, 8-1 Golden Cross, Iris’s Gift, 10-1 Asian Maze, My Way De Solzen, 12-1 Royal Rosa, 16-1 Ambobo, Attorney General, 20-1 bar.

Coral: 4-1 Rhinestone Cowboy, Baracouda, No Refuge, 8-1 Asian Maze, 9-1 Golden Cross, 10-1 My Way De Solzen, 12-1 Ambobo, 14-1 Attorney General, Mighty Man, Moulin Riche, 16-1 Al Eile, Crystal D’Ainay, Patriarch Express, Royal Rosa, 20-1 bar.

Ladbrokes: 3-1 Rhinestone Cowboy, 5-1 Baracouda, 6-1 No Refuge, 8-1 Golden Cross, 12-1 My Way De Solzen, Asian Maze, 16-1 Ambobo, Attorney General, Royal Rosa, 20-1 bar.