Roger Charlton calls time on career of Group 1 winner Quest For More

The Group 1-winning stayer Quest For More has been retired after a series of below-par performances this year, culminating in last week's Gold Cup at Royal Ascot.

Trainer Roger Charlton confirmed the decision on Tuesday evening and said there are no health or injury concerns regarding the seven-year-old, whose final win came last year's Prix Du Cadran at Chantilly, when he defeated the talented Vazirabad.

He went on to finish second in the season-ending British Champions Long Distance Cup last autumn but 2017 has not gone to plan, with a sound beating by Vazirabad in Dubai followed by defeats at Sandown and then at Ascot, when he beat only two of the 14 Gold Cup runners home.

Quest For More won a total of eight of his 30 starts, including the Group 2 Lonsdale Cup at York in 2016 and the Northumberland Plate the year before, and also finished ninth in the 2015 Melbourne Cup, won by Michelle Payne and Prince Of Penzance.

"We've been disappointed with the way he ran in his last couple of races and decided he doesn't deserve to go on any more," said Charlton.