King George: Adayar will not defend Ascot title as Charlie Appleby scratches absent former Derby hero | Racing News

Adayar will not return to Ascot to defend his King George crown after being scratched from this month’s contest, live on Sky Sports Racing.

It is the latest missed target for last year’s Derby hero after failing to make his four-year-old bow in the Coronation Cup at Epsom and then being ruled out of the Prince of Wales’s Stakes last month.

An early season setback was blamed for skipping Epsom, with trainer Charlie Appleby opting to bypass Royal Ascot in order to allow Adayar more time to get back to full fitness.

Adayar’s last public appearance on track came when finishing down in fifth in the Champion Stakes in October last year.

A field of 15 remains in contention for the King George on July 23, including Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe winner Torquator Tasso.

Trained in Germany by Marcel Weiss, Torquator Tasso was a shock winner of the prestigious ParisLongchamp contest last season when prevailing by three-quarters of a length as a rank outsider among the field of 14.

The horse’s part-owner is on weather watch for Ascot with rain needed for them to convinced.

“If the surface is OK we will go next to Ascot, the King George And Queen Elizabeth, if there was a little bit of rain in England that would be nice for us,” part-owner Peter-Michael Endres said.

“If he is OK, the horse, we will go from Ascot to Baden-Baden and then back to the Arc.”

Connections of Mishriff are also considering a run in the King George en route to the defence of his Juddmonte International crown.

This year’s Derby winner Desert Crown remains in the line-up, along with Irish Derby hero Westover.