Arc emerges as ultimate target for Map Of Stars

Map Of Stars will be pointed towards the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe when he returns from a summer break, after pleasing connections with a respectable effort in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot.

Francis-Henri Graffard’s four-year-old had made a fine start to the new campaign, winning his first two starts before going down narrowly by a neck when up against Andre Fabre’s Sosie in the Prix Ganay.

Sent off 13-2 for a red-hot Group One at the Royal meeting, he was not disgraced when fourth behind Ombudsman, with his team now deciding the time is right to step up in trip with Europe’s most prestigious middle-distance prize the ultimate aim in the autumn.

“We were not disappointed at all with him and with the French style of racing where they tend to go steady then sprint, he will never have gone as fast in his life as they went in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes,” said Richard Brown, racing adviser for Map Of Stars’ owners Wathnan Racing.

“He’s done very little wrong and he will have learned a lot from Ascot. He’s still a baby really and still growing up and will come forward from that mentally.

“He ran a solid race and I think we’ll give him a break now, he’s had four runs and we’ll come back for one of the Arc trials and step him up in distance.

“He’s bred for it, so we’ll run him in a trial and take a look at the Arc. I’m sure he’s going to get a mile and a half and I think he’s going to be better over that distance.

“If he is he’ll likely handle the likely soft ground and it’s the obvious race to target him at. Whether he will be good enough, who knows, but he’s got plenty of ability.”