'It's big talk but he could be as good as Pyledriver' - absent ace excites Muir

It will likely take a while for the smile to come off William Muir's face following Pyledriver's King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes victory, but the trainer reckons he has a horse in his Lambourn yard who could be as talented as his leading light.

Muir, operating in partnership with Chris Grassick, has long thought plenty of the sidelined Red Vineyard, who suffered a cannonbone injury in a typically warm London Gold Cup at Newbury in May.

"He's had his rehabilitation and box rest and is now back on the horsewalker and is nearly coming over the top of it," said Muir. "He's a beast – a real beast.

"I don't know if he'll run again this year, he probably won't run on the grass here, but would we travel him? We might.

"He was still a very weak horse and that might have been the trouble; the family takes a long time to mature. His injury happened over a mile and a quarter, but he'd easily be a mile-and-a-half horse and that form looks strong.

"We worked early doors and I put five horses in front of Pyledriver and told the rider to go by them, but was the only one who could go with him."

Owned by Foursome Thoroughbreds, Red Vineyard was a first-time-out winner at Ffos Las last September and beat subsequent Group 3 runner-up Al Qareem at Sandown prior to his Newbury mishap.

Red Cadeaux: popular stayer is part of Melbourne Cup folkloreCredit: Michael Dodge

The three-year-old is a half-brother to Melbourne Cup legend Red Cadeaux, who finished second in Australia's greatest race three times.

"The owners also bred , who was a very good horse," Muir added. "If Red Vineyard got two miles, then why couldn't he be that sort of horse? The only thing is if there is something in the rules in Australia that he's had this injury and two screws put in him and can't run.

"I don't know if that's the case; I haven't sat down and read the rules, but whether those screws come out or stay in, they're never going to bother him.

"The vet said if he's going to be a Group 1 horse, the injury won't stop him. He said it was minimal and the screws would stabilise it. He had a Robert Jones bandage on for about four weeks, but kept chewing it off, so we left it and the injury has healed fantastically."

Muir has been training for more than 30 years, but only became a Group 1 winner last season when captured the Coronation Cup.

"I think he could be as good," he said between second and third lot on Friday morning. "That's big talk, but you've got to think big and if you get a nice horse, you think about going to the nice places and he could go to all of them.

"He beat a very nice horse of Karl Burke's, who has gone on since, at Sandown and then at Newbury he was cantering, but just took a bad step.

"I'd love to be getting on with him, but I'll give him all the time he needs because I think he's very good."

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