Moore laments Saxon Warrior retirement Ryan Moore feels it is a "terrible shame" that Saxon Warrior's racing career was cut short by injury. The 2000 Guineas hero looked to have old rival Roaring Lion in trouble in Saturday evening's Qipco Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown before being mowed down late and being denied a third Group One success by a head. Trainer Aidan O'Brien immediately stated his intention to return Saxon Warrior to a mile in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot next month. However, it emerged on Sunday the Deep Impact colt had suffered a tendon injury and connections were left with no option but to announce his retirement. Moore told At The Races: "It's very sad. He ran a very courageous race on Saturday. "The winner is a really top-class horse - he’s shown that three times now - and the thing with Saxon is I couldn't get into him the way I wanted to because he was leaning that badly. "It was either go through the rail or hit the rail and I just had to keep pushing him. In a normal race you'd have just pulled him off and got beat a length, but I had to keep going. "For me, the most disappointing thing was we never saw him back at a mile because when I rode him at York (when fourth in Juddmonte International, I felt he was ready to come back in trip. "We were looking forward to Ascot with him, and next year, so it’s a terrible shame really."
