'There has been so much sacrifice for this one day' - heartbreak for Live In The Dream team as bruised foot forces Nunthorpe absence

Adam West and his team in Epsom were left "unbelievably sick" after being forced to withdraw Live In The Dream from the Coolmore Wootton Bassett Nunthorpe Stakes.

They had been struggling to get last year's winner ready for York after he suffered a bruised foot and finally admitted defeat after exercising him at 4am on the day of the race.

His withdrawal was announced on X by owners Steve and Jolene De’Lemos and the trainer said: "We're unbelievably sick.

"There has been so much sacrifice to get the horse geared up for this one day and now the guys in the yard have got their heads down — it will take a little bit to pick us back up but we'll get there."

Reflecting on the issue which forced Live In The Dream out of the race, West said: "It's been brewing for a week but never at a point that we were concerned enough to think about pulling him out. 

"We were up all night with the farrier trying to make it as best we could. We rode him out at four in the morning to see if things had settled down enough to be safe and it just wasn't race-safe. Steve and Jolene did the right thing."

Live In The Dream: could head to France nextCredit: Edward Whitaker

Live In The Dream could now be seen next at Longchamp, West said: "There is the Prix du Petit Couvert on September 15 over the Prix de l'Abbaye course and distance and the Abbaye itself, depending on how much longer this takes to heal and for him to come good again. He's quite an open individual, he'll tell us when he's right."

The bruised foot denied Live In The Dream the chance to emulate Borderlescott, Mecca’s Angel and Battaash by landing back-to-back victories this century in Britain’s most important 5f race. 

Live In The Dream sprang a 28-1 surprise at York 12 months ago and went on to finish fourth in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint at Keeneland. 

The speedy five-year-old has been beaten in all four starts this season but was being trained specifically for this race and had been a best-priced 12-1 overnight.

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