is poised to remain at a mile and a half, with Marco Botti eyeing a tilt at the Coronation Cup at Epsom next month.
The six-year-old previously excelled in staying events but in recent times has enjoyed plenty of success over 12 furlongs – including when winning the Hong Kong Vase in December – and his team are keen to throw their hat in the ring for what could be a stellar renewal on the Downs on June 6.
“Our plan is to try the Coronation Cup and that is what we will do as long as he continues to be fine. He came back well from Dubai and we have freshened him up and we’re happy with him,” said Botti.
“It looks like it will probably be the best Coronation Cup in 10 years maybe – you keep hearing there are a lot of top-class horses going there and it could end up being a really strong Group One, but we’ve got to take a chance.”
The son of Mastercraftsman was last seen finishing fifth in the Dubai Sheema Classic in early April but his handler is happy to draw a line through that performance, confident they are making the correct call to skip the chance to win a third straight Yorkshire Cup to head to Epsom.
Botti added: “I wasn’t disappointed with his run in Dubai and I thought it just didn’t pan out for him. He was drawn wide in (stall) nine and you have to either try to go forward and cut across or take a pull and drop in and we ended up too far back in a slow-run race and it didn’t suit him.
“I feel he is much stronger than he was as a three-year-old and I’m confident we should stick to a mile and a half this year rather than go up in trip. I’m confident on good ground and with a bit of luck, he could land a big one this year.”