'Things didn't go his way' - future of Stradivarius to be determined this week

A decision on whether to retire Stradivarius will be made in the coming days according to owner Bjorn Nielsen, who was once again left rueing his star stayer's bad luck after the Long Distance Cup at Ascot on Saturday.

The three-time Gold Cup hero was met with trouble as he began to mount a challenge under Frankie Dettori but stayed on to finish third behind old rival Trueshan, who took his record against Stradivarius to 3-0 following success in the race last year and the Prix du Cadran this month.

The seven-year-old suffered similar interference when fourth in his bid for a fourth Ascot Gold Cup earlier this season and Nielsen was left wondering what may have been had Stradivarius got the rub of the green.