• Horse Racing

Frankel denied Aigles showdown

ESPN staff
August 7, 2012
The heavily-praised Frankel remains unbeaten © Getty Images
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French star Cirrus Des Aigles will not do battle with Frankel at York on August 22 in the Juddmonte International Stakes.

Cirrus Des Aigles, a triple Group One winner, has failed to recover from an ankle injury in timely fashion, and will not be risked against the unbeaten four-year-old.

Nathaniel is now the second-highest rated entry in the Juddmonte behind Frankel, but he is not expected to seriously test Khalid Abdullah's asset.

"The cut [Cirrus Des Aigles] sustained to his ankle was a very deep one which quickly became infected and the wound took longer to heal than I had hoped," trainer Corine Barande-Barbe told the Guardian.

"I kept him walking every day but I didn't want him to gallop on the sand while he was still recovering and, although he is working again now, there won't be enough time to get him ready for York.

"It is a great shame as I was looking forward to running him there [at York], but there are other races for him and I will now try to get him ready for Leopardstown.

"After that, there is Ascot, or I may look for a race at Longchamp on Arc weekend. He has recovered well from the injury and I have no doubt that he will come back as good as ever but we have just run out of time."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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