Reverence set for tests

Tests are to be performed on Reverence before trainer Eric Alston formulates a plan for his stable star.

Last year’s Nunthorpe and Sprint Cup hero was found to have bled after trailing home last in this season’s renewal of the first-named contest on the Knavesmire last week.

Alston said: “We’ll be doing tests this week to see what’s the best policy - whether to aim for the Abbaye or to put him away until next season – and we should know the answer within a week or 10 days.

“We’ll start with a scope, which ought to tell us if he’s got an infection or if the bleed was just one of those things, and then we can take it further if necessary.

“He’s never bled before, never even had a runny nose, so we’re treating it as a one-off at this stage and leaving all our options open.”

Alston has ruled out running Reverence in the upcoming Betfred Sprint Cup, but still hopes his charge will bounce back to his best in time for a trip to Longchamp.

“We can’t run him at Haydock, in the Betfred Sprint on Saturday week, because that will come too soon, but we’re still thinking about Paris, if the vets and the horse tell us it’s all right to go down that route,” he told the Racing Post.

“It will be disappointing if we don’t make it to the Abbaye, because I’d thought before York that he was right back to his best.

“But he’ll still be a good horse next season and we can’t wait until then if that’s what seems the right choice.”