George Murphy revealed on September 2 that Aries will miss the rest of the season after suffering an ankle injury.
The Tattersalls Gold Cup (G1) winner, unbeaten in three starts this year, is targeting the Irish Champion Stakes (G1) on September 14.
“Unfortunately, it looks like White Birch will be out for the rest of the season,” said Murphy, son of coach John Murphy.
“He has a strained muscle near his ankle joint and the advice is that he will be out for three to four weeks, which will not give us time to continue with his plans for the rest of the season. We look forward to having him back on track next season.”
The four-year-old grey mare was placed 6-1 third for the Royal Bahrain Irish Championship at Leopardstown, with just Economy And Auguste Rodin in front of him in the previous bet.
He has been a revelation this season, finishing three lengths ahead of Auguste Rodin in his most recent start on 26 May at The Curragh, achieving a Racing Post rating of 125. There have been a couple of aborted starts since then.
He was due to run in the Eclipse Stakes (G1) at Sandown but was disqualified because of a blood test that was not 100% accurate, while connections decided to miss last month’s Juddmonte International (G1) because they felt the stable’s star was approaching race day as he worked his way back to full fitness.
