WILLIAM MUIR has ruled his stable star Pyledriver OUT of the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.
His Coronation Cup hero had already missed engagements in the King George and Juddmonte International.
The four-year-old pulled a muscle when he slipped in his box.
Muir, his joint-trainer, said: “I spoke to the owners yesterday and we’ve said let’s forget the Arc, he’s one horse we don’t want to rush.
“They said ‘shall we just pull stumps on the year?’ But I didn’t want to do that as he’ll just be mad fresh and do himself another injury in the meantime.
“So I’ve had the book out and the last Group 1 in Europe this year is in Germany (the Grosser Preis von Bayern) so we’ll train him for that.
“That means he should be spot on for a trip to Hong Kong and then you have races in the Middle East that are worth an awful lot. There are races in Dubai for him like the Sheema Classic.
“If we need to get him ready straight for that then so be it.
“He’ll be back next year too, there’s no doubt about that. I reckon he’ll be even bigger and stronger then.”
Pyledriver, already a winner at Royal Ascot and Epsom, went unsold at the sales at £10,000 and has since earned connections nearly £400,000.
A late setback meant Muir was forced into skipping both the King George and Juddmonte International won by Mishriff last week.
It wasn’t easy for Muir to watch on as his star sat in his box.
He said: “We would have loved to have been at York with him but it wasn’t to be.
“He’s the one good horse we’ve had over the years who we hadn’t had bad luck with until now so I shouldn’t complain.
“But we’re happier with him now and he looks like he’s getting back to the horse we know.
“He was never going to be retired and while one exciting route with him has been closed, another might have opened up with what’s happened.”
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