Pyledriver has been ruled out of the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe after connections revealed the King George winner picked up 'a minor injury'.
Trained by William Muir and Chris Grassick, Pyledriver (GB) (Harbour Watch {Ire}) proved too good for last season's Arc hero Torquator Tasso (Ger) (Adlerflug {Ger}) in the King George, and while his injury is not reported to be a serious one, it is enough to scupper plans to run at ParisLongchamp.
“He's had a slight setback and we're gutted,” Muir said on Thursday. “I can't gallop him tomorrow or next week, we can keep going but I can't gallop him, otherwise he could end up being off for longer.
“It's very minor and it's a toss of a coin, but we had to make the decision. If I can't have him at 100 per cent like he was for the King George, there's no point in going for a race like the Arc.
“We're distraught, as we wanted to be in there, but that's life and we have to get on with it, we have to do right by him.”
Muir added, “It's very minor and my vet said this time next week he could be 100 per cent. The plan now will be to see if we can still go for the Breeders' Cup or the Japan Cup, whichever one, and then Hong Kong and the Sheema Classic.
“You don't get many good horses like this but he hasn't missed many (races). This is not like his last problem when he was sore, this is very small and as long as it goes the right way, we are in business-just not in time for the Arc.”
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