Amiloc taking aim at Scandinavia and company in Long Distance Cup

Connections of Amiloc are keen to see if he can stay two miles when he takes his chance in a “hot renewal” of the Qatar Racing British Champions Long Distance Cup at Ascot on Saturday.

The four-year-old son of Postponed is one of 12 runners who stood their ground at the confirmation stage in a race that will see a rematch between Caballo De Mar and Scandinavia, after George Scott’s charge came out on top in an epic duel in the Prix du Cadran on Arc weekend.

Amiloc goes into it on the back of a confidence-boosting four-length victory over a mile and three-quarters at Salisbury last month.

The Ralph Beckett-trained gelding has only raced over two miles on one previous occasion, when a well-beaten seventh of eight runners in Lonsdale Cup at York in August, having previously unseated his rider in the Goodwood Cup.

Amiloc has certainly proven himself over a mile and a half, winning the King Edward VII Stakes at Royal Ascot last year and subsequently only beaten two and a half lengths in the Breeders’ Cup Turf won by Willie Mullins’ Ethical Diamond.

Patrick Cooper, racing manager to owner Vimy Aykroyd, said: “It looks like a hot renewal. We weren’t really expecting that, but that’s the way it has come up.

“He likes Ascot and we’ve tried a couple of times to make sure he stays the trip and it worked at Salisbury so we’ll have a go.

“We haven’t tried him at two miles with this level of horse. I know he stayed well at Salisbury, but he should have won that and obviously he did and this will be the first time in this kind of company.

“Salisbury was a confidence boost, that was the plan. He’s now in against some good, proven stayers, so we’ll find out.

“Winter plans will depend a lot on whether we think he stays on Saturday. The plan will be to go on the road at some point, but we’ll just have to see what his trip is. He was fourth in a Breeders’ Cup Turf so we know he’s very effective over a mile and a half, so now we need to know if he’s as effective over two miles.”

Cooper confirmed that Pride Of Arras has come out of the Turf Classic Stakes at Belmont Park in good order, with connections unable to put a finger on why he disappointed across the Atlantic following his impressive victory in the September Stakes at Kempton.

Copper added: “He’s come out of the race good. We don’t quite know what happened. I think the plan is to go to Hong Kong and if we can get an invitation to Hong Kong then that’s where we’ll go.”