Australian mare Ortensia has suffered an injury during her unplaced effort in the Group One Sprint Cup at Haydock.
The winner of the Nunthorpe Stakes last month, Ortensia was the 5-2 favourite to win a second Group One in England but sustained an inch-long cut to her fetlock and finished in front of just one other runner.
Trainer Paul Messara said the injury cost the mare her chance to win.
“The cut was right on the point of the sesamoid and certainly would have been painful enough to restrict her action,” Messara said on Twitter.
“It wasn’t the way we planned on finishing our preparation in Europe, but we could not be more pleased by what she has achieved.”
Ortensia has been away from home since March, travelling to Dubai to win the Al Quoz Sprint on World Cup night before her English campaign which has also netted a Group Two victory after disappointment at Royal Ascot.
The Sprint Cup was won by Society Rock, winner of the 2011 Golden Jubilee at the Royal meeting.
As Ortensia was weakening, Society Rock hit the front a furlong (200m) out under Kieren Fallon and held off the challenge of Irish raider Gordon Lord Byron by three-quarters of a length, with the well-backed Bated Breath, the narrow runner-up last year, third.
Trained by James Fanshawe, Society Rock has had issues with his barrier manners in the past.
“We’ve been really working on him in the stalls since the July Cup and it’s paid off today,” Fanshawe said.
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