Beckford to miss Royal Ascot Last season’s Railway Stakes hero Beckford, now trained in America, has been ruled out of a trip to Royal Ascot after suffering a leg fracture. The son of Bated Breath won his first two starts for Gordon Elliott last season, including his Group Two triumph at the Curragh. He went on to fill the runner-up spot in both the Phoenix and the National Stakes and finished fifth behind Aidan O’Brien’s Mendelssohn in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf last November. The three-year-old remained in the US to be trained by Brendan Walsh and after making an impressive seasonal debut in a Listed event at Churchill Downs in April, a return to Europe for the Royal meeting was under consideration. However, injury has now curtailed his season. Walsh told Daily Racing Form: “It’s something he should be able to recover from, but obviously it’s disappointing.” The trainer also confirmed the colt has had surgery and that he was hopeful of a return to racing next year.
