Hennessy Winner Could Be Retired Be My Royal, winner of Saturday`s Hennessy Cognac Gold Cup, could have run his last race after sustaining a serious injury. The eight-year-old was a half-length winner over Gingembre in the feature race but jockey David Casey felt something had gone wrong with the horse and was quick to dismount after crossing the line. Initially the problem was not thought to be serious but trainer Willie Mullins confirmed on Sunday: 'He`s just arrived in this morning and it doesn`t look too good. 'It looks like an injury that could mean his retirement - he`s strained a tendon.' Be My Royal, who races in the same colours as stable star Florida Pearl, produced a massively improved performance to take the #105,000 race from 9lb out of the weights. Last season he struggled with his jumping and fell or unseated his rider on five occasions, but he put that behind him at Newbury to turn in a good round of fencing. At the time, Casey thought Be My Royal had gone lame in the shadow ofthe post but Mullins thinks the horse sustained the injury much earlier in the race. 'I thought he did it six or seven from home, he just lost his stride about two strides before the fence and then he finally went on the run up to the line,' he said. 'He`s a tough, tough horse though. It will take a couple of days to see the full extent but I`m looking at the worse case scenario at the moment.'
