Scott targets York with Caballo De Mar

Caballo De Mar will swerve the Al Shaqab Goodwood Cup following his Royal Ascot exertions, with George Scott eyeing what could be a kinder return to action at York ahead of a busy autumn campaign.

The five-year-old headed into what transpired to be a Gold Cup for the ages on the back of a second Group One triumph in the Prix Vicomtesse Vigier and left it all out on the track as he emptied the tank in a race won by Aidan O’Brien’s Scandinavia after a titanic tussle with defending champion Trawlerman.

The Eve Lodge handler is content to let those two warriors recommence battle on the Sussex Downs while he gives his own leading stayer more time to recover from his Ascot efforts, instead identifying the Weatherbys Lonsdale Cup Stakes as a next port of call.

That Knavesmire Group Two could then tee-up plenty of big assignments in the closing months of the season, including a defence of his Prix du Cadran title back at his beloved ParisLongchamp on Arc weekend.

“I won’t go to Goodwood with him as I see him as a horse who is going to be very busy once we head into the autumn,” said Scott.

“We’ll let Scandinavia and Trawlerman go to war again at Goodwood and maybe come back for York with really the Doncaster Cup, Cadran and the Long Distance Cup on Champions Day as his main races. He’ll have a quiet summer now ahead of the autumn.

“I would be issuing a bit of a warning for his first run back that we might ride him a bit differently and allow him to find his rhythm, but he’ll back into his grove after that.

“When a horse has as tough a race as he did at Ascot you are looking for that next race to be enjoyable for him, so it’s an obvious choice to miss Goodwood and head to York.”

After rapidly climbing the ranks of the staying division, Caballo De Mar continued to thrive in the early part of this season with seconds in the Dubai Gold Cup and Sagaro Stakes before his victory at the highest level in France.

However, hopes of Gold Cup glory quickly evaporated on a scorching hot afternoon where the gelding not only had to contend with the hot weather but also battling it out with an elite cast from a compromising draw that prevented his usual style of racing.

Reflecting on the Gold Cup, Scott added: “He’s absolutely fine now and there were a variety of components that led to that final furlong being pretty desperate for him.

“I thought the draw was OK for him but Oisin (Murphy) was right and it proved a big factor. He couldn’t get into his favoured position and by the time he did get there he had already run his race to be honest.

“Maybe next year we only give him one run leading into the Gold Cup rather than two, but fundamentally it was a phenomenal horse race and he was in there in the heat of it mixing it with some quality horses for the most of it.”