A trip to the Breeders’ Cup could be on the cards for Manaccan

John Ryan’s crack sprinter has been a real flag-bearer for the Newmarket yard and won four times last season.

A four-year-old son of Exceed And Excel, he signed off his previous campaign with victory in a Group Three on Dundalk’s all-weather surface and opened the new campaign with a narrow defeat under a penalty when placed behind Vadream in the Palace House at Newmarket in May.

However, he was a late withdrawal from the King’s Stand Stakes at Royal Ascot and plans to go up in class at York have also been shelved.

Ryan explained: “I’m going to leave him out of the Nunthorpe. He had a bit of a hiccup in training and it has meant me giving him a few weeks’ rest. Basically I’m not going to get the time, or by the looks of things, the ground that I want.”

He added: “Good, good to firm is his ideal ground. I know he has run on soft ground, but that’s not his thing. He is a lot better on good, good to firm ground, and that is not what it is going to be by then, the way we are going.”

Manaccan won three of his last four runs last season, including twice in Listed company, and Ryan is setting sights higher for the Newsells Park Stud-owned colt this term.

One target could include the Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Santa Anita in November.

Ryan said: “He would be rated high enough for a Breeders’ Cup and there are not too many horses of his calibre in the world, and it would be a thought in our mind.

“But at this point in time, we have to only think about what is around the corner, but unfortunately what is round the corner is only a few weeks away. He’s going to be a week short of where I want him to be.

“We’ll make another plan, simple as that. I’m not rushing him back. It is not life-threatening, not a long-term issue, but it just means he is not into full work at the moment.

“It has been a tough decision to make, but it is the right decision to make and it is better to make it now and let everybody know. The ante-post stuff means a lot to people now and, having had a discussion with the owners, the right thing to do is not to go to York. Why rush him when there will be other things to go for?

“It is just annoying, because it is a Group One, but it’s not going to fit, so the time to pull it is now. He’s all right and will be back to fight another day.”

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