THE Storyteller has suffered a setback which has ruled him out of the Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys' Handicap Hurdle at Cheltenham on Friday.

His enforced absence is another blow to ante-post punters as the six-year-old was a strong market leader at a general 4/1. The Storyteller had won his last two races, at Down Royal and at Thurles, by an aggregate of 18 lengths.