Winner of the QIPCO Champion Stakes at Ascot on his final start of last season, the four-year-old was found to be lame after working on Tuesday.

The British Horseracing Authority site shows he was transferred to Dominic Ffrench Davis’ stables on Thursday but also that he isn’t currently in training.

Speaking to Matt Chapman on ITV Racing on Saturday the Amo Racing chief said: “King Of Steel has got an injury and has moved to our own yard. All our injured horses always go there, there’s nothing different about that.

“I don’t like to talk about the future, because we never know. People ask me what are the plans for him, at the moment I was there to see him today and he looks great. Fingers crossed but we are very disappointed, very heartbroken about what has happened.

“He was a very, very sound horse and I believe he shouldn’t have been where he is today. I’m devastated by it and we will never, ever rush him. We’re going to wait and make sure that he’s 100% before we make any decisions on what we’re going to do with him in the future.”

Varian was philosophical and expressed his gratitude for being sent the horse in the first place.

“He has left the yard, but he is injured and will miss his summer targets, so there is no need for him to be with me all summer,” he said.

When asked if he knew if King Of Steel would return to Carlburg Stables, Varian continued: “No, not as far as I know, but you also have to bear in mind I didn’t train him as a two-year-old and David Loughnane was the one on the sidelines watching him have all the fun last year.

“His future is uncertain and he has to recover from the injury first and foremost and I think before we worry about too many human sides of the story we have to think of the horse and how disappointed the owner is and team Amo. He is a horse they were going to build their year around and the same for my team, we were hoping to build our summer around him.

“Everyone is disappointed, it’s very recent and still a bit raw and we’re dealing with it. I can’t say much more than that as I don’t know his future. He’s fine, but he’s injured and is going to miss the summer and that is hugely gutting for everyone involved from the owner, to us, the fans. It’s a tough game and something we have to take on the chin and move on.

“Look at the week Charlie Appleby has had with his Derby hopes, one is sadly no longer with us and the other has been ruled out. It’s a tough game. I have no Amo horses in the yard at the moment. I’m not mudslinging and I have a hell of a lot of respect for Kia and we’ve been on a hell of a ride the last 12 months.

“I was grateful of the opportunity to train King Of Steel and a few others, other people lose out and I’ve lost out before, it’s an up and down game.

“We have to move on and we’re all sad about this situation – me and my team, Kia and his team, the public – we all wanted to see King Of Steel at Sandown next week and it is a huge shame we’re not going to be able to.”

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