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Filly on sidelines after torn muscle in Guineas

John Oxx is working back from the Matron Stakes at Leopardstown in September with Skitter Scatter , after ruling her out of a trip to Royal Ascot.

The daughter of Scat Daddy won her final three starts as a juvenile last season – completing her hat-trick with a top-level triumph in the Moyglare Stud Stakes at the Curragh in September.

With trainer Patrick Prendergast deciding to relinquish his licence during the off-season to join forces with Oxx, she made her debut for the Currabeg maestro in last month’s 1000 Guineas at Newmarket – only to trail home 14th of the 15 runners.

It subsequently transpired Skitter Scatter had torn a muscle during the Rowley Mile Classic, and Oxx is in no rush to commit to imminent targets.

He said: “She’s making gradual progress. She’s been confined to walking exercise for a month and we’re coming to the end of that now, so we’ll see how we go from here.

“We think it (torn muscle) happened about three furlongs out, and she just went backwards then. It’s disappointing, but these things happen.”

Patience is proving key to the filly’s recovery.

“It’s a slow process, and she hasn’t been given the all-clear to step up her work yet,” added Oxx.

“These things take time and we’ll just have to be patient.

“She will recover all right and hopefully it will be soon enough, but we haven’t set any deadline for her to run.

“The Matron Stakes is a Group One target we have in mind for her, but how we get there – whether we can get one or two runs into her beforehand – we’ll just have to see how she progresses.”