Trainer Martyn Meade has confirmed Technician has been forced to retire after injuring a tendon at Royal Ascot on Thursday.
Technician, owned by Team Valor 1, was expected to do well in the Gold Cup in Berkshire given the favourable conditions and went off as the 7/2 second favourite, behind eventual winner Stradivarius.
However, the four-year-old finished a disappointing seventh out of eight runners, a huge shock to connections, but it has now been revealed that the grey colt was suffering with a bad injury.
On returning to Meade’s Manton base, Technician was found to had torn a tendon badly enough for his racing days to be over, with the trainer confirming the news.
He told Press Association Sport: “After the race we found out he’d suffered a tendon injury, and I’m afraid it’s career-threatening, so we’ve decided he will be retired.
“His run was so inexplicable – he had absolutely perfect conditions, and I was expecting a big run. It’s so disappointing. It shows what a good horse he was to run on with that injury – it’s bad.
“There’s no future trying to repair it, so we’ll have to make alternative plans for him now. Hopefully he can go to stud, but I’m afraid that will be his last race.”
