Trainer Jane Chapple-Hyam has explained the reason for Saffron Beach's bad run in the Group One Royal Bahrain Sun Chariot Stakes on Saturday was down to the horse returning a Dirty Scope and it has now put there plans to go to the Breeders' Cup in jeopardy.
Landing the Group Three Atalanta Stakes in August last year really put her on the map and she kicked on from there when making it back to back wins over a mile at Newmarket when taking the first Group One of her career in the Sun Chariot Stakes, seeing off Mother Earth who won the race the year before..
Making her seasonal debut in March this season in the Group One Dubai Turf at Meydan she finished a very good fourth.
She was saved since then for her run at Royal Ascot where she went on to beat a decent field of fillies in the Group Two Duke Of Cambridge Stakes.
Saffron Beach made it back to back wins for the season when landing the Group One Prix Rothschild, but lost that record when seeking the third Group One of her career in the Matron Stakes at Leopardstown and was second to the smart Pearls Galore.
An upset in the Royal Bahrain Sun Chariot Stakes @NewmarketRace 😲@kevinryanracing's Fonteyn (16-1), who scored at Listed level in May, her only success from six starts, shows a good attitude to defeat Laurel in the Group One contest under @neilcallan78! @BahrainTurfClub pic.twitter.com/Gxgah7wius
— Racing TV (@RacingTV) October 1, 2022
Looking to retain her Sun Chariot Stakes title at the weekend she only beat one home 16 lengths behind the winner and the yard have since found out that she wasn't right and has scoped dirty.
(Credit ATR) Chapple-Hyam said:“It is very unfortunate. We got her back to the yard and we scoped her, because she was sound.
“We thought we had better put a scope down her to see if there was anything going on inside, and she scoped dirty, with mucus. She is on a course of antibiotics.“
It was very similar to when she ran a nothing race in last year’s Falmouth Stakes. She looked fine on Saturday and got the ‘best-turned-out’ award, too.
“The frustrating thing is we scoped her after her last gallop, just to check, and everything was clean and she has showed no signs of coughing. Yet we put the scope down after the race and she had a dirty lung.”
when asked about plans for the filly going forward Chapple-Hyam added: “We will regroup and I will see the owners at the Tattersalls Sales later in the week.
“She has a few weeks to recover, but I don’t know at this stage how the treatment will go.
“At least we have got an answer, because you can be left not knowing.”