A deflated William Muir was once on Tuesday coming to phrases with the newest setback suffered via his solid celebrity Pyledriver, whose long run could also be up within the air.
Muir, who trains in partnership with Chris Grassick, deliberate to run his King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes hero within the Betuk Wintry weather Derby Stakes at Lingfield on February 25 earlier than a shuttle to Meydan for the Dubai Sheema Vintage on the finish of March, however the ones races at the moment are off the schedule.
“The entirety was once going brilliantly and I used to be humming, however the previous day morning he completed a regimen canter and was once a tiny bit off on his near-fore,” Muir mentioned. “We’ve were given to attend on checks, however I knew the place we had been – he was once in unbelievable form and the 3 bits of labor he’d finished were surprising. It’s irritating, nevertheless it’s a kind of issues.”
Pyledriver gained the King Edward VII Stakes at Royal Ascot in 2020 and adopted up together with his first top-level victory within the Coronation Cup a 12 months later. The Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe has been amongst his primary goals for the remaining two seasons, however he has neglected out as a result of damage.
Muir, who trains the homebred in Lambourn for the Los angeles Pyle Partnership, added: “Not anything jumps out. His legs are ice chilly and it’s no longer a fracture that we will see, however we’ve were given to stay up for scans in the following day or so.
“I may throw the King George in July available in the market if we may well be again for that point of 12 months, or if it’s very minor and we may well be again for no matter, however, in my thoughts, I’ve taken him out of the Lingfield race and the Sheema Vintage. It’s difficult to take. I used to be doing backflips remaining week as a result of he was once proper again on the right track and I assumed we had been in industry. I’m simply hoping it’s a LBW and he’s again for the following innings.”
Pyledriver isn’t fashionably bred, being via Harbour Watch, however handiest 4 horses produced higher turf performances than him in 2022 and connections may believe his long run as a stallion if the damage is critical.
Muir mentioned: “Horses are very treasured to me and, even supposing he was once only one consistent with cent off, I’ve were given to take it severely, so we’ve were given to determine what the issue is. I don’t need him to be unhealthy that results in him being truly unhealthy. He’s a handsome horse who has gained a King George and Coronation Cup and different respectable races, and his score [124] confirmed how nice he’s, so he would make an excellent stallion someplace. That’s one thing to discover if we will’t get him again, however he’s as nice, if no longer higher, than he was once – his labored confirmed me that.
“If I believe he’d to find it tricky to return again, then we’ll search for a stallion activity, however we haven’t pursued that or mentioned it.”
Courtesy of Racing Publish