The Saeed bin Suroor trained Benbatl will miss the QEII on British Champions Day at Ascot on Saturday with the superstar being withdrew at the final declaration stage due to the ground being testing.
The son of Dubawi was impressive on his first run of the season in the Group Two Joel Stakes, finishing third behind Guineas winner Kameko with his handler explaining his six year old lacked a little bit of race fitness.
Having done well on the gallops he was all ready for a second crack at the QEII after going off favourite for the Group One last season, but only going on to finish last of the 14 runners.
Point and shoot – Benbatl is back! @MeydanRacing #DWCCarnival pic.twitter.com/0aGdUlqBLq
— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) January 9, 2020
Bin Suroor did not want the same happening again and has withdrew him from proceedings and it now looks as though the six year old will be next seen back in Dubai with some quality races on offer in Meydan.
(Credit ATR) “There was no point running him at Ascot (this weekend) – we ran him last year, and he hated it,” said Bin Suroor.
“We were keen to run, (and) he’d been working well, but we know he doesn’t like soft ground.
“He won’t go to the Breeders’ Cup. We’ll take him back to Dubai, prepare him for races out there for him. We’ve had a bit of a wasted season.
“Saudi Arabia is (also) one of the options for him, like last year.”