After another defeat at Kelso in February the gelding was off the course for several months as National Hunt racing was interrupted by the 2001 United Kingdom foot-and-mouth outbreak, before returning for his 100th race at Southwell Racecourse on 22 July. Before the race Geoff Sanderson was cautiously optimistic, saying "He's a great jumper. Safe as houses... His only problem, really, is the bits in between the jumps. Let's just say he's not the quickest". In the event Quixall Crossett soon dropped out of contention and was pulled up at half way leading Ted Caine to say "He just wasn't able to keep up today and he wasn't enjoying himself... a couple more runs like that, and maybe we might have to think about his future". Sanderson later said that he had been sacked by Reid after the race for urging that the horse should be retired.