The 3-year-old challenge in the Coral-Eclipse (G1) has been weakened after trainer Aidan O'Brien said Stone Age will skip the Sandown spectacular in favor of the Caesars Belmont Derby Invitational Stakes (G1T) at Belmont Park July 9.
It will be left to French star Vadeni and Tattersalls Irish Two Thousand Guineas (G1) hero Native Trail to fly the flag for the classic generation after O'Brien also ruled Aikhal, an impressive recent winner at the Curragh, out of the £750,000 Sandown contest.
Aikhal and O'Brien's third Eclipse entrant, High Definition, are both being prepared for group 1s in France, meaning O'Brien will not get the chance to become the most successful trainer in the history of the Coral-Eclipse. He has won it six times in all.
Stone Age was as short as 10-1 odds with the sponsors to hand O'Brien a record seventh win, but the Cazoo Derby in Memory of Lester Piggott (G1) sixth-place finisher will instead head stateside in a bid to emulate stablemate Bolshoi Ballet, who won the $1 million race last year.
Stone Age races for Peter Brant, Mrs. John Magnier, Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith, and Westerberg Limited.
"We think the Belmont Derby will suit him and it's just giving him a little bit more time to recover from the (Cazoo) Derby," O'Brien said. "It's obviously against 3-year-olds as well and it's a mile and a quarter which we think will suit him."
