Mohaather unlikely to be seen on a racecourse before October

The season’s best miler Mohaather is unlikely to be seen on a racecourse before Qipco British Champions’ Day in October after he was taken out of Sunday’s Prix Jacques Le Marois, France’s signature one mile race.

Mohaather propelled Marcus Tregoning back into the top division when he overcame traffic problems to record a stunning victory in Goodwood’s Sussex Stakes last month, delivering his trainer a first Group 1 win since Sir Percy triumphed in the 2006 Derby.

“The Queen Elizabeth II Stakes (October 17) is the main target,” said Tregoning. “The Prix du Moulin on September 6 is a possibility, but only a possibility. Sheikh Hamdan is very keen to go to Ascot.

“The horse is in great form. He could run tomorrow and win tomorrow, but there are very few races for him now. I think probably that will be it for the season, unless Sheikh Hamdan wants to go for the Breeders’ Cup.”

Mohaather qualified for a guaranteed place in the Breeders’ Cup Mile for his Goodwood victory but Tregoning has doubts that a trip to the United States is realistic during a pandemic.

“I think that with all that is going on that would be a non-starter,” he said. “Let’s hope we have got him for a fair while because he is very lightly raced and it would be a shame if it all came to an end at the end of the year because I seriously think he is one of the best milers around and he would have a great chance next year.”

The BHA has been rebuked for its handling of last week’s inquiry into whether trainer Gary Moore had breached Covid-19 protocols which led to him being ejected from Glorious Goodwood.

Moore was fined £750 but the independent disciplinary panel which heard the case said the details given of his alleged misconduct had been “sparse and inadequate”.

“It is a fundamental rule of natural justice that a person charged with misconduct should be informed precisely what he is alleged to have done and the law, rules or regulations he has thereby contravened,” the panel said in findings published on Wednesday. “It should not be left to the accused person to work this out from broad references to rules and factual hearsay statements lacking detail.”

Nicholas Wrigley was announced on Wednesday as the new chairman of Aintree Racecourse. He replaces the late Rose Paterson, who died in June having spent six years at the helm of the home of the Grand National. Wrigley, chairman of investment bank N M Rothschild & Sons Ltd, is a former senior steward of the Jockey Club, which runs Aintree.

Sir Michael Stoute’s long-term partner Coral Pritchard-Gordon has died after a long illness. She was 73.