Little Big Bear not declared for Prix Maurice de Gheest 24 hours after being supplemented due to stone bruise

Little Big Bear has not been declared for Sunday's Arc Prix Maurice de Gheest after suffering a stone bruise.

The son of No Nay Never, trained by Aidan O'Brien, was supplemented for the Deauville Group 1 on Thursday at a cost of €27,360, but he was not among the ten horses declared to run on Friday morning. 

He had failed to beat a rival in the July Cup when last seen, trailing winner Shaquille by 22 lengths, and the heavy ground at Deauville would have been the most testing he's encountered in his nine starts.

O'Brien said: "We supplemented him on Thursday morning and would you believe when we checked him on Thursday evening he had a very sore foot. He had to have a stone bruise released out of it. It wouldn't have been right in time for Sunday so we had to take him out which was a pity."

Little Big Bear's next entry is in next Saturday's Rathasker Stud Phoenix Sprint Stakes at the Curragh, the scene of his Group 1 victory as a juvenile last season. He is also entered in the Nunthorpe at York later this month as well as Haydock's Sprint Cup and the Flying Five Stakes in September.

His absence at Deauville means O'Brien will not be represented in a race which has been dominated by British-based trainers in recent years. Six of the last nine winners have been trained in Britain, including last season's scorer Highfield Princess.

The Tim Easterby-trained Art Power bids to continue a productive season which has already yielded two Group 2 successes at the Curragh. Wokingham winner Saint Lawrence has his first tilt at a Group 1 since finishing sixth in last year's King's Stand for Archie Watson and Hollie Doyle, while Karl Burke is double-handed with Cold Case and Spycatcher, who landed a Group 3 at Deauville last time.

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