Haatem camp hopeful Deauville setback was only minor

Haatem appears to have escaped serious injury following his dramatic late withdrawal from the Prix Jacques le Marois at Deauville on Sunday.

Winner of the Craven Stakes on his three-year-old debut, Richard Hannon’s colt went on to finish third in the 2000 Guineas before pushing his esteemed stablemate Rosallion close in the Irish equivalent.

After subsequently being snapped up by prominent owners Wathnan Racing, Haatem enjoyed his day in the sun with a narrow success in the Jersey Stakes at Royal Ascot and hopes were high ahead of his return to Group One level in France.

However, with James Doyle unhappy with how his mount was moving on the way to the start, the son of Phoenix Of Spain was quickly declared a non-runner.

With an immediate X-ray failing to reveal any abnormalities, Haatem has now returned to Britain for further evaluation and connections are hopeful there is no major damage.

“He’s travelled back and travelled well. I think we were all keen to get him back as quickly as possible,” said Wathnan’s European racing adviser Richard Brown.

“We are giving him the once over and we’ll probably know more in the next 24 to 48 hours, but certainly the early indications are that it’s nothing serious.

“James said he took a few bad steps and he just didn’t feel he was right, so he pulled him up straight away and we’ll see where we are in the next day or so.

“We don’t think it’s anything serious but we’ll take every possible precaution.

“All plans are on hold for the moment.”