Last year's G1 Coronation Cup winner Pyledriver (GB) (Harbour Watch {Ire}) is reported to be in fine fettle by his co-trainer William Muir ahead of Saturday's G3 Neom Turf Cup, and though a positive Covid test has ruled Muir out of traveling to Saudi Arabia, he has been keeping close tabs on his stable star via video feed and through communication with his team on the ground, which includes his son-in-law and jockey Martin Dwyer.
The 5-year-old Pyledriver won the Listed Churchill S. at Lingfield on Nov. 13 in his first outing since the Coronation Cup, and he was second in the G1 Hong Kong Vase when last seen on Dec. 12.
“The horse is in great order, he travelled well to Hong Kong and that was the first time he's ever done it,” Muir said. “Since he's been in Saudi he's bouncing and kicking. He's done a breeze [Thursday] morning on grass, I've seen it on video and we were all very happy with it.
“Martin was delighted with him. He did the same thing in Hong Kong–we were walking back off the track together and I said 'what do you think?' and he said, 'whatever beats this will win,' and he was right, the one horse that beat us won. I asked him this morning how he was and he said he feels better than Hong Kong, he said he feels fresh, he's alert, he's just in a very good place. We are in a good place. The horse has had everything happen perfectly. We're happy, we've just got to exercise on Friday and then see what happens on the day.”
Muir, who trains in partnership with Chris Grassick, said it was “frustrating” to be self-isolating while Pyledriver goes on his travels.
“I would have been there myself, but I've tested positive for Covid so I couldn't go,” Muir said. “Martin was fine, he had a negative test so he's gone out and is there now. It's just frustrating, I've got to keep myself away from the staff so they don't catch it as well. I've just got a little bit of a cold. A few years ago I wouldn't have missed any work at all, if I was working for somebody else I'd be feeling guilty that I wasn't working.”
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