Plans for a tilt at the Breeders' Cup are on hold for dual Group 1 winner Saffron Beach (Ire) after she scoped dirty following defeat in her Sun Chariot defence at Newmarket on Saturday.
Trained by Jane Chapple-Hyam, the daughter of New Bay (GB) has been one of the shining lights of the Flat campaign, recording her second Group 1 triumph when running out an impressive winner of the Prix Rothschild at Deauville in August.
However, Saffron Beach ran way below par at Newmarket on Saturday, and the Breeders' Cup trip could be over before it had ever begun following a dirty scope.
Chapple-Hyam explained, “It is very unfortunate. We got her back to the yard and we scoped her, because she was sound.
“We thought we had better put a scope down her to see if there was anything going on inside, and she scoped dirty, with mucus. She is on a course of antibiotics.
“It was very similar to when she ran a nothing race in last year's Falmouth S. She looked fine on Saturday and got the 'best-turned-out' award, too.
“The frustrating thing is we scoped her after her last gallop, just to check, and everything was clean and she showed no signs of coughing. Yet we put the scope down after the race and she had a dirty lung.”
Owned by Lucy, Ben and Ollie Sangster in partnership with James Wigan, Saffron Beach is due to go under the hammer at Tattersalls in December. Whether Saffron Beach races again before that dat has not been decided.
Chapple-Hyam added, “We will regroup and I will see the owners at the Tattersalls Sales later in the week. She has a few weeks to recover, but I don't know at this stage how the treatment will go. At least we have got an answer, because you can be left not knowing.”
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