Godolphin’s MG1SW Benbatl (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) will not take part in British Champions Day at Ascot on Saturday due to the projected soft ground. Favoured in the G1 Queen Elizabeth II S. in 2019, he ran last in very soft underfoot conditions. The QEII or the G1 Champion S. had been options for the English, German and UAE highweight. A winner of Group 1s in Australia, the UAE and Germany, Benbatl will now point to the Dubai World Cup Carnival. He won the G2 Al Maktoum Challenge Round 2 in March and followed up with a third in the inaugural $20-million Saudi Cup. His only run in the UK this term was a third in the G2 Joel S. at Newmarket on Sept. 25.
“There was no point running him at Ascot [this weekend]–we ran him last year, and he hated it,” said trainer Saeed Bin Suroor. “We were keen to run, [and] he’d been working well, but we know he doesn’t like soft ground.
“He won’t go to the Breeders’ Cup. We’ll take him back to Dubai, prepare him for races out there for him. We’ve had a bit of a wasted season. Saudi Arabia is [also] one of the options for him, like last year.”
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