John Oxx's exciting prospect Arazan is still not ready for a return to the track after suffering another setback last week.

The Anabaa colt has been off the track since finishing third in the 2008 National Stakes having suffered a number of problems during what Oxx hoped would be a Classic-winning campaign last year.

The trainer still retains plenty of faith in his four-year-old but is unsure when he will make his belated return.

"Unfortunately he's had a setback in the last week so he is going to miss the Gladness Stakes and the alternative which was probably the Heritage Stakes at Leopardstown a week later," Oxx told At The Races.

"I'm not sure how long this latest setback is going to hold him up for but he's not cantering at the moment and won't be doing any fast work next week.

"Up to that point he had been doing well and was in great shape but we'll just have to see now how the next week or two goes.

"We're looking forward to him and he would be our flagship horse this year, but it's a long time since he's raced and it's a long road back.

"He had really been showing us a lot last spring and we were delighted with him in the run-up to the 2000 Guineas, but that was a long time ago now and I wouldn't make any predictions.

"He's a potential top-class horse, a potential Group One winner and he has a very good pedigree as a half-brother to Azamour.

"Obviously he's a horse you'd have to give every chance to as he's a potential stallion.

"I suppose if he was just a handicapper he would have been on his way to the sales by now."