Laurens to Skip Falmouth with Minor Injury

The Karl Burke-trained MG1SW Laurens (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}) will not take part in the July 12 G1 Falmouth S. after picking up a slight injury to her left hind owner John Dance announced via Twitter on Saturday. Instead, the 4-year-old will point to the G1 Prix Rothschild at Deauville on July 28. She was second in the G1 Al Shaqab Lockinge S. at Newbury in her 4-year-old bow on May 18, and was a last out sixth in the June 18 G1 Queen Anne S. at Royal Ascot.

Dance tweeted, “Sorry to report that Laurens has picked up what we hope is a niggle yesterday [Friday] and thus hasn't been confirmed for the Falmouth S. She'll have an easy week, be reassessed and we'll make a new plan from there.”

Burke, speaking after enjoying a winner at Haydock on Saturday afternoon, added, “She's just got a little niggle on her left hind, a slight reaction to a curb. She cantered this morning, cantered beautifully, but an hour later she wasn't 100%. This has been brewing over the last 48 hours. She's too valuable an animal, too good [to risk]–she owes us nothing. So as much as it hurts to miss out on a chance of a Group 1, we've taken the right decision. John was fully supportive of that, if anything more than I was–he was pretty adamant we should skip it, and we hope we'll get her right for the race in Deauville [G1 Prix Rothschild] in three weeks. It's not a serious injury in a long-term scheme–it's just at the wrong time.”