Stradivarius and Trueshan were both taken out of Friday’s Weatherbys Hamilton Lonsdale Cup at York.
The eight-year-old was due to bid for a fourth win in the race and a seventh victory overall on the Knavesmire after pushing Kyprios all the way in the Goodwood Cup last time out.
However, trainers John and Thady Gosden declared the son of Sea The Stars a non-runner just before 6am because of a bruised foot.
Thady Gosden said: “We were checking him over this morning, as we do routinely with runners, and noticed he just wasn’t quite right and a bit sore on his foot.
“It’s pretty remarkable that he’s been able to meet every engagement over the many years, never missed a race.
“Obviously it is frustrating and disappointing for people at York who may have come to see him, but we have to do the correct thing by the horse.”
The three-time Gold Cup owner holds an entry in the Qipco British Champions Long Distance Cup at Ascot on October 15. Before that there is the option of the Doncaster Cup he won in both 2019 and 2021 on Friday September 9, although any final decision on future plans will be taken by owner-breeder Bjorn Nielsen.
Gosden added: “Possibly (Doncaster Cup), we’ll talk to Bjorn Nielsen the owner and decide what he would like to do from here.”
Ground against Trueshan
Alan King cut a disappointed figure at York after deciding ground conditions were unsuitably quick for Trueshan in the same race.
The six-year-old has a preference for cut in the ground, and has missed a number of engagements over the past couple of seasons for that very reason.
He has managed three starts this campaign, winning at Nottingham before defying a huge weight in the Northumberland Plate and finishing third to Kyprios and Stradivarius in the Goodwood Cup.
King waited as long as he could before making his call, but reluctantly said after the first race on the card: “We talked to a good few jockeys and they were all adamant it’s drying all the time and it’s quick, it’s too quick for him.
“(Of course) it was a difficult decision, he’s a racehorse and we want to run him, but you’ve got to look at the big picture. I just said to the guys, if we make the wrong call today and he comes back jarred we might miss the Cadran and Ascot (Champions Day) and that’s something we mustn’t do.
“I’m sorry for everyone out there, if they’d got two or three millimetres (last night) we’d have been absolutely fine, but everyone I’ve spoken to says it has definitely dried up since Wednesday.
"It made no difference if Stradivarius was in or out, I had to do what was right on the ground. We’ve avoided it all his life, we got away with Goodwood, just – he wasn’t at his best at Goodwood. This is considerably quicker than Goodwood in our opinion.
“We’ll get him home and see, I don’t want to keep getting him ready and then not running. We’ll speak to the owners, possibly Doncaster (Cup) and if not we’ll wait for the Cadran.
“We came up last year and didn’t run and it came good in the autumn, if I ran him now I’d never forgive myself. I’ve never had one as good as him and you’ve just got to try to call it right.
“I’m sorry for everyone.”
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