St Nicholas Abbey scratched from Derby field
The market for the Investec Derby took its latest twist with the news that St Nicholas Abbey, the long-time favourite, will miss the race.
The colt, trained in Ireland by Aidan O’Brien, had been the cause of much speculation on Friday when stable jockey Johnny Murtagh refused to commit to riding him at Epsom. The reason was a below-par gallop that morning which led to the rider considering changing to one of the yards three other front-line hopes for the race.
"St Nicholas Abbey was due to work first thing this morning, however when he came out of his box we noticed he was stiff behind,” O’Brien said in a statement on the Coolmore Stud website. “He had looked slightly stiff yesterday evening. His work on Friday last was a little lacklustre for him and that was the first time we had seen anything different, but he was fine afterwards.
"He was immediately examined and scanned by our vets this morning. They found a slight muscle injury high up in his hind quarter. This meant he could not work today and we were advised to give him an easy few days. Obviously this will preclude him from running in the Investec Derby on Saturday.
"We always thought St Nicholas Abbey could walk on water and it is very unfortunate for all concerned to have a setback like this so close to the big race."
The future looks uncertain for St Nicholas Abbey. His performance in the 2000 Guineas , when he finished sixth to Makfi, had raised doubts about whether last season’s champion two-year-old had actually been able to maintain those talents for his Classic season.
This injury may be a setback but it may also be a precursor to a hasty retirement and a next public appearance on a Coolmore stallion brochure.
The loss of St Nicholas Abbey from O’Brien’s Derby pack eases the pressure slightly on Murtagh, as he weighs up his options for Saturday’s race. He still has to pick from Jan Vermeer, Midas Touch or Cape Blanco, although the latest rumour is that Cape Blanco may be switched to the Prix Du Jockey Club, which is run at Chantilly the day after the Derby.
One jockey who appears happy with the spare ride that that he has picked up is Michael Hills, who will be riding Ted Spread. He won the Chester Vase last month when ridden by Darryll Holland, who misses the ride having broken a collarbone in a fall last week.
Hills got his first feel of the colt, who is trained by Mark Tompkins, in a gallop last week and was surprised by what he found. “I rode him in work on Friday. It was basically a routine piece of work for him to get a feel of me and me a feel of him. I was actually really surprised by how much speed he has,” Hills said. “I spoke to Darryll and he said he really wakes up on the track and he’ll show quite a bit of speed which is really handy for the first part of the race to help you get the position you want.
“Chester's a great place to bring them on. If they can go round there they should be fine round Epsom. Hopefully there won't be too many runners and he'll give himself every chance.”
Sadly the same cannot be said of St Nicholas Abbey.
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