Geordieland ruled out of Marathon

JAMIE Osborne has ruled stable stalwart Geordieland out of Saturday’s Coral Marathon at Sandown following a dirty scope.

The 10-year-old was placed behind the might Yeats in three consecutive runnings of the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot but could not match those performances in the latest renewal, having been pulled up on his first start since September 2009.

Osborne had hoped to see the grey return to competitive action this weekend but this latest setback means the Goodwood Cup in August is his likely next target. Writing on his Twitter account, Osborne said: “Geordieland scoped badly after work this morning and will now head straight to Goodwood.”