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Telecaster ruled out of Arc to leave Enable and Stradivarius as sole British entrants

Telecaster  - PA
Telecaster - PA

And then there were two. The British assault on Sunday’s Prix de L’Arc de Triomphe was reduced to the two John Gosden trained stars, Enable and Stradivarius, after Hughie Morrison announced that Telecaster was now out of the race.

The East Ilsley trainer, who likened his medium-sized yard taking on possibly four of Aidan O’Brien’s to the Prussian commander field marshal Blucher against Napoleon at Waterloo, hoping to slip on to the battlefield without being noticed, was not happy with the four-year-old colt at exercise on Tuesday morning.

Despite being an outsider for the race, Telecaster, last year’s Dante winner, won his last start in the Grand Prix de Deauville by over six lengths on heavy ground and conditions appeared to be coming in his favour at Longchamp where it is already ‘very soft.’

“It’s one of those things,” said Morrison. “He’s not right and we can’t run him. There’s no point going to the Arc unless you’re 100 per cent, you can’t go to a race like that half-cocked. For a medium-sized yard it is upsetting for everyone but particularly the lads and staff who eat and drink these horses every day.”

He added: “That will probably be it for this season now. He’ll make a nice stallion one day but I imagine unless they get a good offer for that, he’ll stay in training next year.”