HORSE of the Year, Princess Popstar is racing against time to make it to the first Classic of the season, the filly’s only 1,000 Guineas scheduled to be run on April 5.

Princess Popstar has not raced since December 26 last year when she romped the Jamaica Two-Year-Old Stakes after hitting her right leg when leaving her post position in the one-mile event.

The filly by Adore The Gold – Doc’s Paladin recently suffered a muscle strain which is hampering her training regime, thereby forcing trainer Philip Feanny to rest Princess Popstar for now.

“Because of the muscle strain, I have not been working Princess Popstar, and with the 1,000 Guineas so close she would normally need at least two more gallops to be able to compete effectively. At this time she is not able to do that as she has to rest for the injury to heal properly. An injury of this nature usually requires at least two to three weeks, sometimes longer to get better,” Feanny explained to the Complete Racing Guide.

The former 14-time champion trainer, dubbed ‘The Maestro’, said while he is disappointed with the turn of events he will not be risking the future of Princess Popstar in any way.

“There has been some improvement of the muscle, she is healing, but not sufficiently at this stage to allow her on the track to prepare effectively for any race, much less a Classic race. And for sure, I will not risk her future by allowing her to exercise. There are still many races to come. So, the task now is to allow her to rest and recover fully from the injury. At this time, I would say that Princess Popstar is almost a certain non-starter for the 1,000 Guineas. We will, however, monitor her recovery and take it from there,” Feanny said.

Feanny did have some joy over the weekend when he captured the Thornbird Stakes with Bubbling Angeline and Prince Consort with Rocketman.

“They both ran very well and they came out of their respective races fairly well. Bubbling Angeline is fine and Rocketman has a slight swelling on his stifle, but it is not anything to be worried about,” the former champion trainer said.