Sprint Cup favourite Oxted ruled out after below-par piece of work

Impressive July Cup winner Oxted, who was a leading fancy for the Betfair Sprint Cup at Haydock on Saturday, has been ruled out by trainer Roger Teal after a below-par gallop on Tuesday morning.

The four-year-old was the 7-2 favourite with the sponsors for the Group 1, but connections have had to turn their focus to Ascot and the Qipco British Champions Sprint Stakes on October 17.

"I'm not going to run Oxted and wanted to let people know as soon as possible," said Teal on Tuesday. "He just worked below par this morning and with the ground being on the easy side I don't want to risk him. I'd rather wait for Champions Day at Ascot.

"We're waiting on some blood tests because he didn't work his normal self this morning and you want to be 100 per cent sure you're firing on all cylinders going into a race like that. Everything was fine before today, but you know what horses are like."

The Teal family with July Cup winner OxtedCredit: Edward Whitaker

Oxted landed the Portland Handicap last September before stepping into Group company and winning the Abernant Stakes in June.

The sprinter then gave Teal and jockey Cieren Fallon the finest moments of their careers to date when winning the Group 1 July Cup, providing the pair with their first top-level victories.

Teal, who had been concerned by the possibility of testing ground at Haydock in any case, added: "I've made the first entry stage for Ascot, which will be our next target. Unfortunately these things happen and we were delighted with him over the weekend, but today we weren't.

"We'll wait on those results, but he's good at telling us things and you've got to listen to the signs. If we ignored them and he disappointed on Saturday we'd be kicking ourselves."

Hungerford Stakes winner Dream Of Dreams is the new favourite with Betfair at 11-4 (from 4), with the Kevin Ryan-trained Hello Youmzain, who won the race last year, priced at 3-1.

Sprint Cup betting: Betfair Sportsbook

11-4 Dream of Dreams, 3-1 Hello Youmzain, 9-2 Golden Horde, Lope Y Fernandez, 13-2 Art Power, 8 Tabdeed, 12 Khaadem, 16 Glen Shiels, 20 Queen Jo Jo, The Tin Man, 25 Brando, Summerghand, Forever In Dreams, Archer's Dream

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