No Royal Ascot for Dawn Approach

Dawn Approach will not be seen in action for a while. Image courtesy of racingfotos.com.

Dawn Approach will not be going to Royal Ascot for the St James’s Palace Stakes in which Aidan O’Brien’s Irish 2000 Guineas winner, Magician, and the QIPCO 2000 Guineas disappointment Toronado are the big two.

After his bitterly disappointing run in Saturday’s Investec Derby, when he refused to settle and trailed in last of the 12 runners, his trainer, Jim Bolger, understandably wants a bit of time to build him up for his next race.

Bolger said yesterday: "Dawn Approach collided with another horse jumping out of the stalls and that seemed to set him alight.

"You wouldn’t expect something like that to happen to a horse who had raced seven times before Saturday, but it did and that’s why he refused to settle and didn’t run his race.

"He definitely won’t be going to Ascot and we’ll wait a while and give him time before running him again.

"He’s in the Sussex Stakes [at Goodwood] but there are no plans as such at this stage other than that he will be dropping back in distance."