The 10-year-old has won the Nunthorpe Stakes twice in his prime but in two runs since returning from a lengthy absence he has not really sparkled.

However, Bastiman feels little has been in his favour so far this season and it is far too early to take a drastic decision on his future.

"He's fine after the race (on Saturday) but he didn't like the ground at Musselburgh," said Bastiman.

"In his first run he didn't like the all-weather, he'd have done more in a piece of work than he did that day, so we won't retire him just yet.

"I can't keep making excuses for him but he has always needed fast ground to be seen at his best so we'll give him three or four more runs before we make a decision.

"If he still shows little then we will retire him but he might just need to drop down the handicap a bit.

"He's still very enthusiastic at home but you don't know if he's feeling his pelvic injury when he gets to the races.

"We've no intention of retiring him just yet, though, as he never comes to hand early and always needs a few races to warm up. Neil (Callan) said after a furlong he knew he was hating the ground.

"There's the Palace House or a race at Chester but we won't know where he's at until he gets fast ground."