Alan King cut a disappointed figure at York after deciding ground conditions were unsuitably quick for Trueshan to run in the Weatherbys Hamilton Lonsdale Cup.

The six-year-old has a preference for cut in the ground, and has missed a number of engagements over the past couple of seasons for that very reason.

He has managed three starts this campaign, winning at Nottingham before defying a huge weight in the Northumberland Plate and finishing third to Kyprios and Stradivarius in the Goodwood Cup.

King waited as long as he could before making his call, but reluctantly said after the first race on the card: “We talked to a good few jockeys and they were all adamant it’s drying all the time and it’s quick, it’s too quick for him.

“(Of course) it was a difficult decision, he’s a racehorse and we want to run him, but you’ve got to look at the big picture. I just said to the guys, if we make the wrong call today and he comes back jarred we might miss the Cadran and Ascot (Champions Day) and that’s something we mustn’t do.

“I’m sorry for everyone out there, if they’d got two or three millimetres (last night) we’d have been absolutely fine, but everyone I’ve spoken to says it has definitely dried up since Wednesday.”

Stradivarius was also a York absentee, having been declared a non runner due to a bruised foot.

King added: “It made no difference if Stradivarius was in or out, I had to do what was right on the ground. We’ve avoided it all his life, we got away with Goodwood, just – he wasn’t at his best at Goodwood. This is considerably quicker than Goodwood in our opinion.

“We’ll get him home and see, I don’t want to keep getting him ready and then not running. We’ll speak to the owners, possibly Doncaster (Cup) and if not we’ll wait for the Cadran.

“We came up last year and didn’t run and it came good in the autumn, if I ran him now I’d never forgive myself. I’ve never had one as good as him and you’ve just got to try to call it right.

“I’m sorry for everyone.”