Connections of last year's G1 Gold Cup winner Courage Mon Ami (GB) (Frankel {GB}) expect to have a clearer idea later this week as to whether he will be able to defend his crown after he suffered a setback in training.
Trained by John and Thady Gosden, Courage Mon Ami graduated from handicaps with a decisive success at Royal Ascot in 2023, beating Coltrane (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}) by three quarters of a length to gain his fourth win from as many starts.
Beaten twice subsequently last season in the G1 Goodwood Cup and G2 Lonsdale Cup at York, Courage Mon Ami was being prepared to make his return to action at the Royal meeting, but his participation in the Gold Cup now depends on the seriousness of a setback which is currently being investigated according to Richard Brown, racing adviser to owners Wathnan Racing.
“I can't say Royal Ascot is unlikely at the moment because we don't know,” Brown said. “He had a training setback last week, had a little bit of time off and now we are investigating. I know no more than that. We'll know more, I believe, towards the end of this week.
“I'm not going to say it's disappointing because we don't know what it is. Until we find out exactly what we're dealing with, I don't know.”
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