Al Nayyir out to make most of Marathon opportunity

Having bumped into subsequent Gold Cup hero Trawlerman on his latest visit to Sandown, Al Nayyir bids to open his account for the season in the Coral Marathon at the Esher circuit on Friday.

Narrowly beaten by Vauban on his first start for trainer Tom Clover in last summer’s Lonsdale Cup at York, the seven-year-old spent the winter months abroad, finishing fifth in the Red Sea Turf Handicap in Saudi Arabia and then eighth in Dubai Gold Cup at Meydan.

He was not disgraced when third behind Trawlerman and Coltrane on his return to British action in the Henry II Stakes in late May and takes the latter on again at Listed level on the eve of the Coral-Eclipse.

Clover said: “He seems to be in good shape, so I hope he’ll run a nice race. He’s training well and we’re looking forward to running him.

“Trawlerman was obviously impressive (at Royal Ascot) and I’d like to think we’ve come forward a touch from that run. If we’re there or thereabouts that would be great.

“I just felt he stalled a little bit last time out perhaps and we thought the cheekpieces might just sharpen him up a bit, we’ll see.”

Andrew Balding’s Coltrane is sent back into battle just over a fortnight after finishing fifth in the Gold Cup, while Alan King has declared his stable star Trueshan, who has not been seen in competitive action since finishing fourth in the Prix Vicomtesse Vigier at ParisLongchamp in late May.

However, his participation is far from certain, with the prevailing fast ground once again a concern.

“I don’t think he’ll run,” said King.

“He’s in very good shape – he’s been in good shape all year. I just hoped we’d get a bit more rain on Wednesday morning, which they missed.

“I don’t think he’ll run, but we’ll make a decision on Friday morning.”

Listed honours are also up for grabs in the preceding Davies Insurance Solutions Gala Stakes, which sees William Knight’s stable stalwart Checkandchallenge test his powers against the Balding-trained Windlord and Cash from David Simcock’s yard, among others.

Windlord, owned by Juddmonte, has been deployed as a pacemaker for the brilliant Field Of Gold in the Irish 2,000 Guineas and the St James’s Palace Stakes on his last two starts and now returns to a venue where he has smart form hoping to make the most of his sights being lowered.