William Muir and Chris Grassick's Pyledriver is preparing for a defence of his Group 1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes title in July and may use the Group 2 Hardwicke Stakes as a warm-up.

William Muir and Chris Grassick's Pyledriver is preparing for a defence of his Group 1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes title in July and may use the Group 2 Hardwicke Stakes as a warm-up.

The six-year-old has been plagued with minor injuries over the last year and has not been seen on the racetrack since his career-best success in the Ascot Group 1. Muir and Grassick had brought the son of Harbour Watch back into training in January with the hope of a title at the Dubai Sheema Classic in Meydan at the end of March, but Pyledriver had suffered a niggle on his near-fore after a routine canter.

William Muir has outlined his plans for the six-year-old, saying: "The object was to go to the King George again, then prioritise getting to the Arc. Then you have all these international races at the back-end of the year.

"The Hardwicke, though it sounds stupid to say it, is a race to bring him on for the King George. The best races for him, and for the prize-money, are later on in the year, so the longer I wait now, he won't be over the top when we get to the end of the year.

"You can over-do it by racing a lot, and when you get to internationals like Hong Kong and the Breeders' Cup, you can go past your best."

From Muir's perspective, it is clear that a run in the Group 2 Hardwicke Stakes at Royal Ascot would be a 'nice-to-have' rather than a necessity.

"If in the next two weeks we can get him where we want him – which we can do, as when we were getting him ready for Lingfield I thought I was struggling to get to the Winter Derby, he had two gallops and then 'bang' he was there and he was bouncing – if he says to me 'yes', he'll be there.

"And if he says 'no', he won't be. We'll see how he gets on, but there's no big issue if he doesn't go to the Hardwicke."