The Golden Eagle will be without one of its international drawcards, with Charlie Fellowes’ Frankel colt Luther sidelined due to injury.
English trainer Fellowes, who prepared Prince Of Arran to three successive Melbourne Cup placings from 2018 to 2020, confirmed that Luther’s Golden Eagle hopes had been dashed.
“Devastatingly Luther has suffered a setback and will not be making the trip to Australia for the Golden Eagle,” Fellowes posted on X.
“He has been a star for us this year and we look forward to seeing him back on the track next year. Group 2 winner in America and placed in two Group 1s.”
A last-start winner of the Hall Of Fame Stakes at Saratoga in the US on August 1, having been awarded the race on protest, Luther was due to arrive in Sydney alongside fellow UK Golden Eagle contender Seagulls Eleven on the second flight carrying internationals for the spring carnival.
Hong Kong’s superstar sprinter Ka Ying Rising touched down in Sydney and settled into Canterbury’s quarantine facilities on Monday to prepare for his shot at The Everest.
Tim Rowe
Connections of Luther had been tossing up whether to continue his international campaign, which had taken in two starts in France and two in the US, and the $10 million Golden Eagle remained firmly on the radar despite the Sydney four-year-old race being denied Group 1 status.
The application to have the Golden Eagle, won last year by the William Haggas-trained Lake Forest, who will also race in NSW again this spring, upgraded to a Group 1 was denied by the Asian Pattern Committee earlier this month.
Luther is a half-brother to Good Gracious, twice a Listed winner in Ireland, who was purchased for 250,000 guineas ($A540,000) at the 2023 Tattersalls October Yearling Sale.
He won two of his three starts in England as a juvenile and he raced five times this year.
