A deflated William Muir was on Tuesday coming to phrases with the most recent setback suffered by his steady star Pyledriver, whose future 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 Winter Derby Stakes at Lingfield on February 25 earlier than a visit to Meydan for the Dubai Sheema Traditional on the finish of March, however these races are actually off the agenda.
“All the things was going brilliantly and I used to be buzzing, however yesterday morning he completed a routine canter and was a tiny bit off on his near-fore,” Muir stated. “We have to attend on checks, however I knew the place we had been – he was in improbable form and the three bits of labor he’d executed have been beautiful. It is irritating, but it surely’s a kind of issues.”
Pyledriver gained the King Edward VII Stakes at Royal Ascot in 2020 and adopted up along 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 important targets for the final two seasons, however he has missed out due to harm.
Muir, who trains the homebred in Lambourn for the La Pyle Partnership, added: “Nothing jumps out. His legs are ice chilly and it is not a fracture that we will see, however we have got to attend for scans within the subsequent day or so.
William Muir with Pyledriver: “I am simply hoping it is a LBW and he is again for the subsequent innings”Credit score: Edward Whitaker
“I might throw the King George in July on the market if we could possibly be again for that point of 12 months, or if it’s totally minor and we could possibly be again for no matter, however, in my thoughts, I’ve taken him out of the Lingfield race and the Sheema Traditional. It’s powerful to take. I used to be doing backflips final week as a result of he was proper again on observe and I believed we had been in enterprise. I am simply hoping it is a LBW and he is again for the subsequent innings.”
Pyledriver will not be fashionably bred, being by Harbour Watch, however solely 4 horses produced higher turf performances than him in 2022 and connections might contemplate his future as a stallion if the harm is severe.
Muir stated: “Horses are very valuable to me and, despite the fact that he was only one per cent off, I’ve received to take it severely, so we have got to seek out out what the issue is. I do not need him to be dangerous that results in him being actually dangerous. He is a handsome horse who has gained a King George and Coronation Cup and different respectable races, and his ranking [124] confirmed how good he’s, so he would make an excellent stallion someplace. That is one thing to discover if we will not get him again, however he’s pretty much as good, if not higher, than he was – his labored confirmed me that.
“If I believe he’d discover it troublesome to come back again, then we’ll search for a stallion job, however we’ve not pursued that or talked about it.”
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