Hinchinbrook is out of Saturday’s Group One Golden Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot and may have run his last race.
Trainer Peter Moody, who is in England to oversee the colt’s preparation, confirmed the bad news on Thursday.
“He has sustained an injury this morning to his suspensory which will rule him out of racing for three to six months,” Moody said.
“It’s a long way from home and the horse was going so well, we were very happy with him.
“I have to speak to his owners but quite possibly he might be retired from racing.”
The injury to Hinchinbrook leaves only the Danny O’Brien-trained Star Witness to represent Australia in the Golden Jubilee (1200m) on Saturday.
Hinchinbrook, by Fastnet Rock out of Snippets’ Lass, is a valuable stud prospect and is a three-quarter brother to successful sire Snitzel.
A Group Three winner, he has been placed four times at Group One level including a third to champion stablemate Black Caviar in the William Reid Stakes at Moonee Valley in March and second to Hay List in the All-Aged Stakes at Randwick in April.
Hinchinbrook’s injury is another blow for the Australians at Royal Ascot this week.
Star Witness was narrowly beaten into second in Tuesday’s King Stand Stakes while So You Think, now trained by Aidan O’Brien in Ireland, suffered a shock defeat in Wednesday’s Prince Of Wales’s Stakes.
AAP TURF
