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| Staff Writer |
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Roger Varian announced on Saturday that there are no longer any horses from Amo Racing in his Newmarket yard.
This news follows shortly after King Of Steel, a star in Varian's stable and owned by Kia Joorabchian's Amo Racing, was sidelined for the summer due to a lameness issue discovered after a workout on Tuesday.
King Of Steel, who was the runner-up in last season's Derby and a winner of the Champion Stakes, was supposed to prepare for the Gr.1 Prince of Wales's Stakes at Royal Ascot by participating in the Gr.3 Brigadier Gerard Stakes at Sandown on Thursday. However, he left Varian's Carlburg Stables on Wednesday morning for what was described as a rehabilitation period.
Varian stated on Saturday that to his knowledge, King Of Steel will not be returning to his stable, and any remaining horses owned by Amo at Carlburg have also left.
"I have no Amo horses in the yard at the moment," said Varian. "I'm not mud-slinging, I've got huge respect for Kia and we've been on a hell of a ride the last 12 months. I was grateful for the opportunity to train King Of Steel and a few others. I had a great opportunity, other people lose out and I've lost out before. It's an up-and-down game but we have to move on.
"We're all sad about the situation. We all wanted to see King Of Steel next week at Sandown and it's a huge shame we're not going to be able to. He's not the only horse to have been injured this week – it's a tough game."
This season, Varian has only saddled one horse for Amo Racing, which is Derby entry Mr Hampstead. Mr Hampstead finished fourth in a novice at Newbury last month and third in a maiden at Chester this month. Additionally, Varian took control of Amo's Irish 1,000 Guineas entry Ornellaia from Dominic Ffrench Davis in March.
Asked, as far as he knew, if King Of Steel was going to rejoin the yard, Varian added, "No, not as far as I know but you have to bear in mind I didn't train him as a 2YO. David Loughnane, who was on the sidelines watching King Of Steel have all that fun last year, did.
"His future is uncertain and he has to recover from the injury first and foremost. Before we worry about too many of the human sides of the story we have to think of the horse and think how disappointed the owner and Team Amo are – he's a horse who they were going to build their year around – and how disappointed I am and my team. He's a top horse who we were really hoping to build our summer around.
"Everyone is disappointed, it's all very recent and a little bit raw and we're dealing with it."