Azure Blue will skip the Sprint Cup at Haydock Park and the Flying Five at the Curragh this weekend in favour of a Champions Day bid on 21 October.

The filly missed an intended engagement in the Group 1 Nunthorpe Stakes at York's Ebor Festival due to a foot issue and has not been seen on the track since her sixth behind Shaquille in the Group 1 July Cup at Newmarket.

Azure Blue closed off the 2022 season with a victory in the Listed Boadicea Stakes at Newmarket's Rowley Mile and has gone from strength-to-strength since. She repeated the feat in the Listed Ellen Chaloner Stakes over the same course and distance on seasonal reappearance, beating subsequent Group 3 Atalanta Stakes victor Heredia. The four-year-old followed up with an impressive victory in the Group 2 York Stakes in mid-May, ahead of multiple Group 1 winner Highfield Princess. 

"We've had a bit of an issue. She seems all right now, but we just didn't think she'd be ready," said trainer Michael Dods.

"She had the foot problem before York and then she had a bit of an ulcer problem and we just had to deal with it.

"We're happy enough with her, she just wouldn't have been ready to run this weekend.

"If we didn't have her for Ascot we probably wouldn't be bothering, I'd probably leave her and have her ready for the start of next season. That would be the plan.

"It's disappointing, but there's always another day and we'll just have to wait until we see her at 100 per cent."

Azure Blue is widely available at 10/1 for the Group 1 British Champions Sprint Stakes.