Tony Bloom's Royal Ascot heroine Venetian Sun has been ruled out for the rest of the season after trainer Karl Burke confirmed the sprinter has suffered a tendon injury.
Season-ending setback
The Commonwealth Cup winner, owned by Brighton & Hove Albion chairman Tony Bloom in partnership with Ian McAleavy, had been under consideration for a trip to France for this weekend's Prix Maurice de Gheest at Deauville, the venue where she captured the Prix Morny as a two-year-old.
However, plans for the remainder of her three-year-old campaign have been shelved following the discovery of a tendon problem.
Trainer's reaction
Burke said: "It's a big shame and unfortunately it happens. It's a long way from being a career- or life-threatening injury, but obviously is going to take time and it's very disappointing."
He added: "We had more or less decided to swerve Deauville anyway because the ground was very fast out there last weekend with no sign of any rain and the French not watering like they used to do."
Cause and recovery
Burke explained: "It's just one of those things, we have a feeling she may have initiated it at Newmarket during the July Cup but she came back from there with a nasty little cut and she had been on antibiotics and anti-inflammatories and we think that may have masked it to a degree."
Venetian Sun has triumphed in six of her nine career starts to date, with her connections eagerly anticipating an autumn schedule that could have featured appearances in Haydock's Sprint Cup, at Ascot on British Champions Day and at the Breeders' Cup.
Burke said: "It's basically a strain to the tendon, it happens a lot with jumping horses – it's unusual really at this stage in a sprinter's life, but can happen. It's a time thing now and she will have the next six or seven months on the easy list and then be reassessed from there."
He concluded: "The little bit of work she has done the last few days has just aggravated it and we've had the vets in this morning and they weren't 100 per cent happy with a little bit of heat in the leg and that is what it turns out to be. The plan before today was if she finished the season in good shape she would stay in training and that may still be the plan, but that is a discussion for later on."
