York Ebor Festival news | Stradivarius misses Lonsdale Cup run

The eight-year-old was set to fight for a fourth win in the race and a seventh overall at the Knavesmire after pushing Kyprios to the max last time out in the Goodwood Cup.

However, trainers John and Thady Gosden ruled Sea The Stars’ son a non-runner just before 6am due to a bruised foot.

Thady Gosden said: “We examined it this morning as we routinely do with runners and found it just wasn’t quite right and was a bit sore on the foot.

“It’s quite remarkable that over the years he’s been able to fulfill every commitment and never missed a race.

“Obviously it’s frustrating and disappointing for the people of York who may have come to see him, but we have to do the right thing with the horse.”

The three-time Gold Cup holder will compete in the Qipco British Champions Long Distance Cup at Ascot on October 15. Before that, there is an option for the Doncaster Cup, which he won in both 2019 and 2021 on Friday 9th September, although there is no final decision on future plans being handled by owner breeder Bjorn Nielsen.

Gosden added: “Possibly (Doncaster Cup) we will speak to Bjorn Nielsen the owner and decide what he wants to do from here.”

Ground against Trueshan

Alan King looked disappointed at York after deciding the ground conditions were unreasonably fast for Trueshan in the same race.

The six-year-old has a penchant for cutting into the ground and has missed a number of engagements over the past few seasons for precisely that reason.

He has made three starts this season, winning at Nottingham before defying a tremendous weight at the Northumberland Plate and finishing third at the Goodwood Cup behind Kyprios and Stradivarius.

King waited as long as he could before making his call but reluctantly said after the first race on the map: “We spoke to a couple of jockeys and they were all adamant that it dries all the time and it goes fast , it ‘s too fast for him .

“(Of course) it was a difficult decision, he’s a racehorse and we want to run him, but you have to look at the bigger picture. I was just telling the lads if we make the wrong call today and he comes back shattered we could miss Cadran and Ascot (Champions Day) and we mustn’t do that.

“I’m sorry to everyone out there if they had gotten two or three millimeters (last night) we would have been absolutely fine but everyone I’ve spoken to says it’s definitely dried up since Wednesday.

“It didn’t matter if Stradivarius was in or out, I had to do what was right on the spot. We avoided it all his life, we got away with Goodwood, only – he wasn’t at his best at Goodwood. In our opinion, this is significantly faster than Goodwood.

“We’re going to take him home and see, I don’t want to keep beating him up and then running. We will speak to the owners, possibly Doncaster (Cup) and if not we will wait for the Cadran.

“We came up last year and didn’t run and in the fall it was good, if I ran him now I would never forgive myself. I’ve never had one as good as him and you just have to try to call it right.

“I’m sorry for everyone.”

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