Adayar to head straight to Ascot for King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes

The 2021 Derby hero was due to have had his first run of the season over the same course and distance as that Blue Riband win, in the Coronation Cup at Epsom Down last Friday but he missed that after a minor setback.

That problem has also meant he has been ruled out of the Prince of Wales's Stakes at Royal Ascot next week.

With the Eclipse less than four weeks away, the Godolphin team have decided that it is in the four-year-old's best interests to give him more time and wait for the Ascot contest on Saturday July 23, in which he beat Mishriff by a length and three-quarters last summer.

"We have decided to bypass the the Eclipse at Sandown Park and head straight to the King George at Ascot with Adayar," trainer Charlie Appleby said in a tweet from the Godolphin account.

"He is back in full work and doing well, but we want to allow him plenty of time to build back up to race fitness."

A son of Frankel, out of the Group 3 winning mare Anna Salai, Adayar has won three of his eight starts to date. In fact, he had won just a Nottingham maiden from his first four starts, prior to springing a 16/1 surprise in the Derby, when under Adam Kirby he walloped the field by more than four lengths.

That significantly improved effort was followed by his King George success, which is the best piece of form on his CV at this stage.

Heavy ground was blamed for his defeat in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe in October (he was beaten almost four lengths in fourth place). He was keen that day and also in his final start of the season, when he was well beaten dropping back to 1m2f for the Champion Stakes at Ascot.

He holds entries for the Arc once again but also, preceding that, in the Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown in September.