Curtain Call, second favourite for the Vodafone Derby, looks set to head straight to Epsom after quick ground scuppered his run at Lingfield.
Luca Cumani's charge was due to contest the totesport.com Derby Trial but the Newmarket trainer did not want to chance the son of Sadler's Wells on good to firm ground.
‘We knew after they had run a couple of races yesterday that the ground was going to be too quick,’ he said.
‘You don't break course records on good ground and I don't want to risk a horse a month before the Derby on ground that is unsuitable.’
Curtain Call, who was trained by Jessica Harrington as a juvenile, won on his debut for Cumani at Nottingham last month and is as low as 5-1 for the Derby.
Cumani put him through his paces at home on Saturday morning and Curtain Call remains on course for the June 7 Classic, although his preparations now require further consideration.
‘We will probably go straight to Epsom now. He worked this morning and worked well and we will just have to implement a plan B now to get him to Epsom,’ Cumani added.
‘I've not really had time to think about what we will do yet as we were organising this morning's work.
‘We will have to have a think about it over the next few days and map out a plan.’
