Sumbal Out Of St Leger

Qatar Racing’s Sumbal (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}), a leading contender for the G1 St Leger Sept. 12 after winning his first three starts earlier this year, has been ruled out of that Doncaster Classic due to injury. Sumbal beat just one home when sixth in Sunday’s G2 Grand Prix de Deauville, and trainer Francis Graffard said the colt emerged from that effort with sore withers.

“He probably took a bad step at some stage, which meant when he was in the straight he couldn’t stride out,” Graffard explained. “It wasn’t his true running, which was very disappointing as he’s a very nice horse and was in good form going into it. At least something came up that we could blame.”

Sumbal’s defection leaves 12–six of which are trained by Aidan O’Brien–left in the Leger entries.