California Chrome probably out of Prince of Wales's Stakes

California Chrome, the 2014 Horse of the Year, is likely to be scratched from Wednesday’s Group 1 Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot because of an abscess in his right front foot, trainer Art Sherman said from England on Monday.

A dejected Sherman said that California Chrome did not train on Monday and that the abscess was detected in tests. Sherman said he believes that California Chrome bruised a foot while training at Newmarket, England, in recent days.

“He’s pretty sore on it,” Sherman said

“He must have bruised it when he was galloping up one of those hills. I’m about sure he won’t run, but we’ll go over him in the morning.”

The injury ruins an ambitious plan set by majority owner Perry Martin to start California Chrome in one of England’s most prestigious races. The Prince of Wales’s Stakes is the top race at 1 1/4 miles on turf at the Royal Ascot meeting, the highlight of the English flat season.

California Chrome was sent to England in early April, a week after finishing second in the $10 million Dubai World Cup at Meydan Racecourse on March 28, his first start out of the U.S.